Ladies First: German Universities Edit Out Gender Bias

By Charly Wilder. This week, the second German university in a month's time decided to banish generic masculine forms of titles like "professor" from all official documents. They will be replaced with the feminine form, a decision that has reignited an old gender equality debate.
The governing body of Germany's Potsdam University ruled this week that the feminine forms of titles like Professor and Research Assistant will become the standard generic reference in official university documents. It was the second university to make such a decision in the last month, but controversy broke out when several news organizations, including this one, began reporting that the feminine form would have to be applied in specific cases, meaning that male professors would have to be called "Herr Professorin" (literally, Mr. female professor). The reports sparked a wave of public ridicule and disapproval. But on Thursday, the university posted a statement to their website, insisting that the appropriate gender-specific titles will continue to be used. "The University of Potsdam has no intention of applying this to concrete individuals," spokeswoman Birgit Mangelsdorf confirms. Mehr...