The option to set personal pronouns is now available in Canvas. All students and staff can choose personal pronouns in their Canvas profiles. Personal pronouns display after your name is various areas in Canvas, including:
- Announcements
- Comment Fields
- Discussions
- Inbox
- People Page (Module and Groups)
- User Navigation Menu
- User Profile Page
- User Settings Page
The default is ‘None’ and students/staff can opt-in to displaying a pronoun in Account > Settings.
Available pronouns include:
- He/Him
- She/Her
- They/Them
Here’s how:
- While logged in to Canvas, click Account in the global navigation.
- Click on the Settings link.
- Click the Edit Settings button (on the right side of the page)
- Select the desired pronouns from the drop-down menu.
- Click the Update Settings button.
Any technical questions? Email us at information.centre@stir.ac.uk.
And if you’re wondering…
What are Personal Pronouns?
Pronouns are used on a regular basis to refer to people without using their name and imply one’s gender (he, she, they, etc.). Pronouns are one of the many ways we define our identities.
But why do Personal Pronouns Matter?
You can’t/shouldn’t assume someone’s pronouns by their appearance or name. Referring to someone by the wrong pronoun can be damaging, making the person feel disrespected, invalidated, and/or dysphoric. Correctly using someone’s personal pronoun shows respect for their identities and helps foster an inclusive community.