Advocacy

Request for NAFSA to Implement Gender Pronouns in Registration Systems, Add Pronouns in Various Languages, & Issue a Public Statement to Address Issues Affecting the Queer Community ​

Dear NAFSA,

The undersigned members of the Rainbow SIG leadership respectfully urge NAFSA: Association of International Educators to:

• Formally implement the option to include gender pronouns in all the organization’s registration and membership systems and platforms including myNAFSA profile and conference badges,
• Add pronoun options in various languages to reflect global diversity, and
• Issue a public statement from the leadership acknowledging the current hostile political climate facing the queer community, identifying the challenges affecting NAFSA members including both professionals and students, and affirming a commitment to develop strategies that provide support and protection.

These initiatives are essential to fostering inclusive spaces for all individuals, including queer people from diverse cultures, and reflect the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Given recent executive orders targeting transgender and non-binary travelers, and the ongoing attacks on rights of the queer community in the United States, now is the time for NAFSA to implement truly inclusive actions that will benefit all its all members.

The recognition of gender pronouns is increasingly acknowledged as a fundamental component to develop inclusive environments across professional organizations worldwide. NAFSA has already taken meaningful steps such as distributing pronoun buttons, offering the option to include pronouns on the online platforms for conferences, and sharing resources to support the queer community through publications. While we appreciate these efforts, we believe that they are not sufficient to fully foster inclusive spaces for queer individuals engaged in international education.

By integrating gender pronouns into your registration systems and expanding pronoun options in different languages, NAFSA would:

Demonstrate Inclusive Excellence:  As the world’s largest and most comprehensive nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange, formalizing the practice of sharing pronouns would position NAFSA as a global leader in advancing inclusion for the queer community.

Enhance Participant Experience: Recognizing and affirming individuals’ pronouns fosters a sense of belonging and psychological safety particularly in cross-cultural and multilingual settings. This initiative would provide empowering spaces for queer individuals around the world, many of whom may not have access to such affirming spaces in their home countries.

Align with Professional Standards:  Many institutions and organizations across industries have adopted formalized practices that integrate pronoun options to affirm individuals who do not identify with traditional binary gender identities. NAFSA’s adoption of these practices would align with these evolving professional standards.

List of international education organizations that have formalized the practice of sharing pronouns:

• ACPA – College Student Educators International
• DA Global Access Network
• IES Abroad
• PIE News – Transforming Knowledge and Networks in International Education
• NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
• NCORE – National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in Higher Education
• The Forum on Education Abroad

Promote Sustainability: Including pronouns on conference name badges offers a sustainable alternative to ordering pronoun buttons. This change eliminates the need for additional materials and reduces both conference costs and environmental impact. By integrating pronouns directly into badges, conferences minimize the waste associated with buttons. This practice also streamlines the attendee experience by eliminating the need to wait for or search for buttons.

Facilitate Intercultural Communication: Incorporating gender pronoun options in various languages at international conferences can also enhance intercultural communication by fostering clarity, respect, and inclusion across diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds represented by attendees. Pronoun structures vary widely among languages. Some languages lack gender-neutral forms, and others rely on implicit gender markers, which can lead to misunderstandings or unintentional misgendering. By providing multilingual pronoun options, conferences create a standardized framework for participants to express their identities while also educating attendees about linguistic diversity. This practice not only establish inclusive environments for queer people but also promotes mutual respect, reduces language-based barriers, and encourages cross-cultural dialogue.

We propose the following steps to integrate gender pronouns into your registration systems and effectively expand pronoun options in different languages:

Staff Training and Resources: Equip your leadership team with series of training and tools to develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills needed to share and affirm pronouns in communications and interactions. These opportunities and resources will promote a culture of sharing pronouns across the organization.

Pronoun Fields in Registration Systems: Add optional fields for individuals to specify their pronouns across all registration and membership systems, especially conference badges and myNAFSAN profile.

Support for Multiple Languages: Offer gender pronoun options in various languages to accommodate the diverse backgrounds of your participants. In collaboration with members of the Rainbow SIG, we have compiled a list of pronouns in different languages to support this initiative. Since its creation, over 20 institutions and organizations in international education have requested access to the list, which shows the need of this initiative particularly in the field of international education.

Establish a system that allows individuals to first select a language, then choose from the pronoun options in that language. In addition, ensure a customizable option is available in each language and allow participants to input their own pronouns.

As international education conferences aim to foster inclusion for diverse attendees, the formal implementation of pronoun-sharing mechanisms is critical. Research underscores that explicit pronoun disclosure serves as an identity-safety cue, promotes positive organizational attitudes, and foster a sense of belonging among queer individuals (Johnson et al., 2021). The recent uptake of pronoun selection during registration at the 65th ASTRO Annual Meeting provides an instructive example. Unlike previous years when pronoun stickers were the only option, ASTRO introduced pronoun self-identification at the time of registration, which was then printed on name badges. This shift resulted in a significant engagement rate with 64.3% of registrants opting to include their pronouns (Domogauer, 2024). The results demonstrate that formalizing pronoun-sharing in conference logistics increases participation and normalizes inclusive practices. Another empirical data from Johnson et al. (2021) demonstrates that the inclusion of gender pronouns in organizational materials functions as an effective identity-safety cue for queer individuals. Through three experiments and an internal meta-analysis, the study found that when an employee biography explicitly included gender pronouns, queer participants, including both cisgender and transgender individuals, reported greater attraction, trust, and commitment to the organization compared to when pronouns were absent. In addition, the presence of pronouns enhanced perceptions of procedural fairness and allyship among managers and employees, which promoted a sense of inclusion and safety. These findings suggest that integrating pronoun-sharing in professional environments, such as large-scale international education conferences, can foster more positive experiences for marginalized individuals and promote broader organizational inclusivity (Johnson et al., 2021).

Fostering an organizational culture of sharing gender pronouns has a tangible and positive impact on inclusion for the queer community by reducing instances of discrimination and creating environments of trust and respect. As a leading organization in international education, NAFSA has the opportunity to set a powerful standard for inclusion within the queer community by aligning with your mission of fostering global understanding and collaboration. This change would demonstrate a strong commitment to valuing and empowering all participants. Inclusion is best demonstrated through actionable change. By implementing these initiatives, NAFSA can further enhance its reputation as an organization dedicated to advancing inclusion. We would be happy to provide support or further discuss this proposal to ensure its success.

Thank you for considering our requests. We look forward to your response and hope that NAFSA will seize this opportunity to lead in promoting inclusion further in international education.

Sincerely,
Members, Friends, and Supporters of Rainbow SIG