I admit that I have made a few embarrassing mistakes through emails with professors, assuming they are totally cool being addressed by their first names. In fact, they subtly corrected me by putting their preferred name as Professor XXX. Emails have become a common way of communicating with colleagues, and I would like to share a few tips on avoiding mistakes that I have made in the past.
- Include your preferred gender pronouns in your email signature
E.g., Dr. Smart (she/her) | Senior Research Scientist
This is helpful because not all names indicate gender. Many of my colleagues have shared that they get frustrated when people misattribute a gender to them. By including yours in the email signature, you help others who email you avoid embarrassing missteps by referring to you incorrectly. Of course, we should not assume in the first place. However, we can help people out by indicating our identity in our email signature.
2. Write out the phonetic pronunciation of your name
I have a colleague whose name is Caglar = [ Cag-lar], not [Cha-glar]. I had mistakenly pronounced his name as “Cha-glar” the whole two years at Grad school until he finally corrected me on the last day at school. That was quite embarrassing, given I had no idea for mispronouncing his name the whole time! While we should definitely pronounce people’s names correctly from the first time we meet, there’s always a person like me who may not hear your name correctly. Hence, writing out your name’s phonetic pronunciation helps people avoid making a mistake as I did.
3. Sign your email with the name you like people to call you.
The “from” line of your email account may show “William,” but if you prefer to be called “Bill,” make sure you sign your email messages that way. Signal to your reader what you prefer to be called by signing with your preferred name. This is helpful for people who want to go by their middle name or nickname.
What do we do if our email sender hasn’t indicated these things to us? Well, I would say go neutral on gender by using them or their and write out their whole name without a gender pronoun in our greeting. This simple yet often overlooked detail will make it easier for people to communicate with us by email, especially across different cultures.
