If you’ve been a follower of Intrepid English for a while now, you’ll know that empowering learners and promoting equality in education is at the heart of our mission as a company. In today’s blog post, we’ll explore some vocabulary words and phrases to help you speak about the topic of gender equality.
Empower (verb)
To empower means to give a person the power or authority to do something. The noun form is empowerment. We can use the adjectives empowered to describe a feeling or state, and empowering to describe a thing.
Example:
Intrepid English aims to empower English learners all over the globe.
Inclusive (adjective)
One of Intrepid English’s core values is inclusivity. If something is inclusive, it means it does not exclude any person or group of people.
Example:
The headteacher was dedicated to creating an inclusive environment.
Diversity (noun)
Diversity refers to the state of being diverse and varied, and including a range of different things or people.
Example:
We have students from a diverse range of backgrounds in the Intrepid English Academy.
Equality (noun)
Equality means the right of different groups of people to receive the same treatment in a society, workplace or social setting.
Example:
We need to see equality in the workplace.
Feminism (noun)
Feminism is the belief that women deserve the same rights as men. If you believe in this, you are a feminist.
Example:
Feminists fought for women’s right to vote.
Whataboutism/Whataboutery (noun)
This is an unhelpful tactic used in debates to deflect an accusation or difficult question. Read more about these terms in an excellent blog post from former Intrepid Teacher Jo about International Women’s Day and Whales.
Example:
We can’t have a serious conversation about the issue if you are just going to use whataboutery.
Representation (noun)
This refers to the state of being represented.
Example:
It is important for women to see themselves represented in positions of power.
Gender pay gap (noun phrase)
The gender pay gap is the percentage difference between average hourly earnings for men and women. The gender pay gap still exists in the UK in 2025.
Example:
The ideal gender pay gap is 0 percent.
Unconscious bias (noun phrase)
Unconscious bias refers to unconscious forms of discrimination based on factors such as age, race, gender, sexuality and ethnicity.
Example:
I am working on addressing and dismantling my unconscious bias.
Discrimination (noun)
This refers to the act of unfair treatment of different groups of people, based on things such as ethnicity, age, gender, or disability. The verb form is discriminate, and the adjective form is discriminatory.
Example:
Racial discrimination has a debilitating impact on a young person’s self-esteem and psychological wellbeing.
Intersectionality (noun)
Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how various aspects of a person’s social and political identities (such as race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, etc.) interconnect to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. It emphasizes that experiences of oppression or privilege are not isolated to a single aspect of identity, but rather are interconnected and shape each other.
Example:
In a discussion about workplace inequality, the concept of intersectionality was introduced to illustrate how women with disabilities often face barriers that are different from those faced by able-bodied women.
As part of Intrepid English’s mission of equality in education, we’ve got a free Reading Club every Thursday at 10am UTC. It’s free for everybody, not just Intrepid English members. However, we do offer additional activities in the Intrepid English Community for Intrepid English Members to practise. This really empowers our English learners to use the language learnt in the Reading Club, boosting their confidence and vocabulary even more. If you would like to join to improve your vocabulary, reading and speaking skills in English, then please get in touch to have the link. We hope to see you in Reading Club next Thursday!