CERN believes in equality, and it is important that we reflect this by using non-discriminatory language. Here are some tips for gender-neutral writing:

• Use gender-neutral job titles such as spokesperson (not spokesman), firefighter (not fireman), police officer (not policeman), chair (not chairman) and actor (not actress).
• Avoid "man" terms wherever possible – use "workforce", "human resources" or "personnel" instead of "manpower"; "humanity" or "humankind" instead of "mankind"; "person hours" instead of "man hours".
• Specify an individual’s gender only if relevant in the context. For example, it is not usually necessary to refer to a "female scientist"; she is simply a scientist. In occasional cases, however, such as an outreach text about initiatives to promote women in science, it may be appropriate to draw attention to the gender of key individuals.
• Use Ms rather than Miss or Mrs.
• Use gender-neutral language whenever the gender of the person being referred to is not known. In formal or administrative texts, the simplest and clearest way to do this may be to use "he or she", "his or her", etc., but this should not be used in web texts and can usually be avoided by rephrasing. For example, make the noun plural, omit the pronoun, repeat the subject, use the passive form, use "who", use "you" if adressing the reader.
• In informal texts, such as web texts, it is acceptable to use "they" even in the singular when the gender is not known, e.g. "Any new physicist coming to CERN will face a range of challenges. They will have to find accommodation and settle into a new routine..." Note that this is still unconventional in writing and so should never be used in formal texts.

For more detail and examples of how to rephrase to avoid discriminatory language, see section 9 of the full Style Guide.