• LinkedIn has seen a 29% increase this year in users listing their preferred pronouns.
• The platform added a pronoun feature in March 2021, reflecting gender changes in society.
• The increased use of preferred pronouns signals that the practice is becoming part of the office culture.

Detractors might consider it woke, but more pros include them favorite pronouns on their LinkedIn profiles.

Globally, about 38 million people on the platform now list their pronouns on their profiles, a 29 percent increase from January, a LinkedIn spokesperson told Business Insider.

LinkedIn added space for users to include their preferred pronouns in their profiles in March 2021. The spokesperson said the platform has since seen “steady growth” in adoption.

The rise in people displaying their pronouns comes as some employers downplay or back away from embracing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Reputable companies, incl Lowe’s, John Deereand Harley-Davidsonscaled back or abandoned their DEI efforts following criticism from a conservative activist.

To some extent, the increased use of preferred pronouns on LinkedIn signals that the practice is becoming an unremarkable part of office life, said researchers who wrote about gender issues for BI.

The proliferation of pronouns on LinkedIn, which has about 1 billion users, comes as it has become more common to include such information in email signatures and on business cards. The display of pronouns remained and a political flash point.

An easy decision for some

Michael West, who works on public health and social policy issues in Australia, wrote in a recent LinkedIn post about using he/she pronouns.

“Articulating my pronouns publicly also creates space for others to reflect, discuss and consider what feels best for them,” West wrote. He went on to add that “your pronoun is a small but powerful action that can make a significant positive difference to many other people.”

A survey conducted on behalf of LinkedIn around the time the platform added the pronoun feature found that 70 percent of job seekers thought it was important that recruiters and hiring managers they knew their gender pronouns. Seventy-two percent of hiring managers agreed.

The online survey, conducted in late February and early March 2021, surveyed approximately 2,100 US adult job seekers and approximately 1,000 hiring managers.

An efficiency tool

Kathryn Bond Stockton, a distinguished professor of English at the University of Utah, told BI that even for people who might identify as nonbinary, trans or genderqueer, pronouns are not an ideology or “an identity in and of itself.”

Instead, she said, many people have come to see preferred workplace pronouns as a navigational tool.

“A lot of people now see the pronoun enumeration and respect acts in that light — as kind of an efficient and effective way of referring to each other, rather than having people ask that question,” Stockton said.

She said the need to specify them in professional settings should remain optional and not something prescribed by employers. However, respecting what people do they should be specific, she said. Stockton identifies as genderqueer, but said that in her case, she doesn’t care what pronouns others use to describe her.

“They’re all equally right or wrong for my life trajectory. So, you know, do it,” Stockton said. She said that because most people understandably have strong feelings about their pronouns, others should respect that.

Stockton added that many of us already use “they” in the singular colloquially, so it’s not as difficult to use alternative pronouns for others as some people might fear.

She said that in her experience, the people most likely to protest the increase in people sharing their preferred pronouns “would feel the most offended if their pronouns were not respected.”

Finally, Stockton said that in the workplace or other settings, if people don’t want to specify their own pronouns, that should be respected as well.

The overall reaction to the pronoun feature has been positive, a LinkedIn spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the platform could not at this time share information about the industries, geographic areas and other characteristics where users tend to display their preferred pronouns most often.

Minjae Ormes, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, wrote in a Post 2021 that a person’s profile is “more than just a career highlight reel.”

Ormes added that allowing users to add their preferred pronouns “is another form of self-identity and expression that plays a fundamental role in recognizing and celebrating what makes us strong together.”

We don’t always use pronouns

Davina Cooper, research professor of law and political theory at King’s College London, told BI that the increase in people posting their favorite pronouns on a platform like LinkedIn or in email signatures partly reflects societal shifts towards recognizing diverse gender identities.

Cooper, who said he does not indicate preferred pronouns, said that for some people sharing their pronouns can signal support for marginalized groups.

However, in practical terms, listing pronouns might not have as much of an impact in something like an email correspondence, she said. This is because if he is writing to someone, he will not address the person in the third person.

“So in a lot of contexts, it’s more about someone saying something about where they stand in a debate,” Cooper said. “When they say ‘she/they’, they communicate a political commitment, including one of solidarity.”

She said she respects the importance of people “feeling recognized” and the value of developments that change traditional understandings of gender.

“This allows societies to evolve and have common conversations about what gender should be about,” Cooper said.

She said that ultimately, while some people find comfort in sharing their preferred pronouns, what it says about a person could be limited.

“At some point, it’s like knowing someone’s name?” Cooper said. “It’s ‘I’m John,’ but what it means to me to be John you can’t apply to anybody else.”