Saying people’s names right: what policymakers can do

In UK universities, there are more international students, more black, Asian and other minority ethnic students and more academic staff who are non-UK nationals than ever before (Universities UK, 2018). This diversity is reflected in a rich variety in the names of students and academic staff – and so too in everyday uncertainties about how to say some people’s names. There are close links between people’s identities and their names. So saying someone’s name incorrectly can misrepresent their identity, affecting their feelings of inclusion and belonging, and be experienced by them as a cultural and/or racialised micro-aggression.

The Say My Name study explored the pronunciation of students’ names in higher education in England. We used a survey to map policy and guidance within higher education institutions relating to the pronunciation of students’ names, and interviews to capture experiences of higher education students and staff. We also uncovered other findings about the importance of names for the experiences of people studying in and working at institutions of higher education – for example, names being inaccurately reflected in email addresses allocated by an institution and when displayed onscreen in online meeting software such as Microsoft Teams.

• Collection: The importance of getting students’ names right
• Creating an environment where staff and students feel comfortable sharing their pronouns
• Keeping dead names out of convocation

In this article, based on findings from the study, we highlight actions that leaders and policymakers in higher education can take to ensure their organisation addresses names and identities, and to raise the issue’s profile as important for day-in-day-out equalities, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practice.

Recognise that saying students’ names right is not just for graduation

Our survey on the pronunciation of students’ names found that only a few respondents reported their institution had a policy or any guidance about the pronunciation of students’ names – and then only at graduation. Yet, in their interviews, students and staff told us that name pronunciation, and names and identities more broadly, are everyday experiences and not just something that matters during a graduation ceremony.

Recognise that a whole university approach is needed

Some staff we interviewed told us that, because their workplace had no policy or guidance, they had devised their own strategies for handling students’ names they didn’t know how to pronounce. But names and identities are too important a set of issues to be left to the ad hoc activities of a minority of well-intentioned people. Instead, institutions should have organisation-wide policy and guidance that centrally addresses issues of names and identities, including name pronunciation and variations in naming conventions.

Here are our suggestions for what policymakers (for example, EDI leads) can do to engineer greater respect for name diversity and so improve the day-to-day, year-round experiences of all staff and all students.

Embed audio recordings of people saying their own names into student records software and in HR records software

Your students’ records and HR software might already have this feature – make sure it’s enabled and let people know about it. If it doesn’t have this feature, software such as NameCoach can capture and upload audio recordings of people saying their own names and can be integrated with your student records and/or HR software.

Include names and identities in induction sessions for students

Demonstrate the importance of names by having induction activities for all students that focus on this issue. Workshops can include “show and tells” about participants’ names, and what their names mean to them, and activities about respecting name pronunciation and on cultural variations in naming conventions. Let students know that it’s OK to correct name mispronunciation by university staff!

Policy on respecting names should directly address international students

It’s not an issue for all international students (and can also be an issue for home or EU students), but university services for international students should especially show respect for, and celebrate, the cultural diversity of names from around the globe.

Training for all university staff

EDI training for all staff should be expanded to include content on names and identities. As for students, workshops can include “show and tells” about participants’ names, and what their names mean to them, as well as activities about respecting name pronunciation and on cultural variations in naming conventions.

Make it normal for everyone to declare how their name should be pronounced

It is not unusual to see people declaring their preferred pronouns. Make it normal for people to declare their preferred way to say their name, too. Encourage all staff and all students to include an audio recording of their name in email signatures; NameCoach, for example, as a free “name badge” service.

Email address policies should allow for variations in naming conventions

Not all naming conventions around the world follow the typical email address pattern of “first” name followed by “family” name. Email address policies should be flexible enough to accommodate differences in name order, name lengths and use of hyphens – and ideally apostrophes (as in O’Reilly) and diacritics (for example, Amélie).

Develop names and identities resource banks

A bank of online resources should be developed to help students and staff to respect people’s names. Resources might include: how to make an audio recording of your own name; how to add an audio recording to your email signature; how to adapt autocorrect to avoid misspelling names in emails; examples of best practice in the classroom or in one-to-one encounters; guides to using online pronunciation tools and to phonetic spellings; and information about key variations in cultural naming conventions.

Developing and implementing policy and guidance on names and identities are fundamentally important ways for a university to meaningfully respect the rich cultural diversity of its people.

Jane Pilcher is an associate professor of sociology and Hannah Deakin-Smith is a researcher in the department of social and political sciences, both at Nottingham Trent University.

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You can find more information about the British Academy-funded Say My Name study here, as well as further resources and guidance.