Job title

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A job title names a job . Each occupation also includes general terms or occupational groups , such as "clerk", "technician", "craftsman", "designer", "designer" (compare professional function ). In personal union also several functions can be performed, such as "Head of Research, council member and commissioner for occupational safety." From a linguistic point of view, job titles are a subgroup of the person names ( noun agentis ), which form one of the main types of nouns .

Germany

Use of job titles

A job title can be given by anyone who a) practices a profession (also on leave, incapacitated, suspended) or b) has learned it and no longer does it permanently. Almost all job titles exist in both grammatically feminine and grammatically masculine forms.

People in training are only allowed to use a job title if it has a corresponding addition. In Germany, a distinction is made between the use of job titles and the use of titles or academic degrees . Relevant is, for example, the criminal provision § 132a of the Criminal Code .

Protected job titles

The Berlin Senate Department for Science and Culture explains how to use the academic degree in front of a job title: “Anyone who adds the term 'Diplombetriebswirt' to their name has a university degree, because the term 'Diplom- ...' requires a university degree. Those who call themselves 'business economist', however, have the appropriate job title. "

Examples of unprotected job titles

Many job titles that seem to indicate that an apprenticeship or a scientific degree has been completed after a proper examination are not protected.

They can therefore be used legally by any person due to the lack of a legal regulation and are not proof of special expertise or even special legal powers. However, if unprotected job titles are used in professional life (e.g. for applications, contracts) without having the appropriate qualifications, this may constitute misleading advertising in violation of Paragraphs 3 or 16 of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). Under certain conditions there is also a criminal liability for fraud in accordance with § 263 StGB into consideration; this applies in particular to forms of employment fraud .

Examples of such designations that can be misinterpreted as state degrees or official designations are

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the rules on protected professional titles are regulated in different laws. The Federal Act of October 4, 1991 on the Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Act) applies to the titles awarded by the Federal Institutes of Technology ( ETH Zurich and ETH Lausanne ) . There it says in Article 38:

"Anyone who:

a. pretends to be a lecturer at an ETH without having been appointed;
b. holds an ETH title without having been awarded it;
c. uses a title that gives the impression that it was awarded to him by an ETH. "

The Federal Act on Vocational Training (Vocational Training Act, BBG) applies to titles that are acquired through an apprenticeship , optionally supplemented by training at a university of applied sciences . While the law does not name the actual titles, but refers to the ordinance that regulates them individually for the individual professions, Article 36 also defines title protection:

"Title protection

Only holders of a degree in basic and advanced vocational training are entitled to use the title specified in the relevant regulations. "

Article 63 also names the criminal provisions:

"Title appropriation

1 Anyone who:
a. holds a protected title without having passed the required examinations or successfully completed an equivalent qualification process;
b. uses a title that gives the impression that he or she has passed the relevant test or successfully completed an equivalent qualification process.
2 The criminal provisions of the Federal Act of December 19, 1986 against Unfair Competition are reserved. "

Job titles in Europe from a gender linguistic perspective

Linguistic equal treatment of men and women in job titles

In 1976, Directive 76/207 / EEC of the European Economic Community on equality for women in working life was published. A number of legal measures were then passed in Europe. Ordinances and the founding of commissions were issued, which were supposed to ensure equal treatment of men and women and also expressed this demand at the linguistic level. In 1979, for example, it was regulated in the Federal Republic of Germany that in future male and female job titles must be used in training regulations. In 1980, the Civil Code was supplemented by Section 611b of the German Civil Code by anchoring a gender-neutral job advertisement.

In the Netherlands, the law on Gelijke Zeiten van mannen en vrouwen bij de arbeid ("Equal treatment for men and women at work") has been in place since 1980 , with the requirement to address both women and men in job advertisements.

In France, Yvette Roudy , Minister for Women's Rights , set up her own commission in 1984 to formulate professional and functional titles that are appropriate for women. The commission drew up proposals for the use of female designations, titles and ranks and proposed a uniform regulation. In 1986 the outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius sent this circular to the relevant departments for consideration ( Circulaire du 11 mars 1986 relative à la féminisation des noms de métier, fonction, grade ou titre ) . However, the Académie française continued to reject all forms of gender-sensitive language, even female endings for job titles. It was not until February 2019 that the Académie found with only two votes against that there were no fundamental obstacles to using professional and functional titles as well as titles and academic degrees in the female form in the French language (see also gender in French ).

Neutralization and denomination

Two main strategies can be distinguished in order to achieve equal linguistic treatment of the two genders:

  1. Neutralization : This strategy in turn offers two possible variants in order to achieve equal linguistic treatment of men and women in terms of job titles. On the one hand, this can be done through the use of gender-neutral personal names, through which both female and male persons can be addressed. Examples of this type of gender-neutral job title in German would be “die Fachkraft” or “die Lehrkraft”. In English, for example, fireman should be replaced by firefighter , because by using this job title both men and women can be addressed equally.
    The second possibility to use the neutralization can be achieved in German by using a plural form of a normalized adjective or participle, for example “the students” or “the employees”.
  2. Both genders : This is achieved by making both genders "visible" by naming the female and male job title in order to achieve equal linguistic treatment.

Examples of possible names:

  • all teachers, teachers, teachers
  • French: les étudiantes et les étudiants or les étudiantEs (compare feminine terms in French )

Abnormalities in male and female job titles in the European language area

"Men in stereotypical women's professions"

Male job titles are often used as a basis for deriving female job titles. For example, female job titles in German are usually formed by adding the feminine suffix -in to a masculine personal suffix , for example in the case of "Fahr-er-in". In contrast, female job titles rarely serve as a basis for derivation in order to create a male counterpart. Usually, completely new masculine terms are created, which are often associated with a (linguistic) upgrading of the profession. As an example in German, the job title “Maternity Nurse” can be added here. This was created in 1985 after the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of March 21, 1972 prohibited the ministerial linguists from using the terms “Hebammer” or “Hebammerich”. These names have been excluded because they have a clearly feminine origin and character. In addition to other suggestions, such as “obstetrician” or “birth assistant”, the professional title “maternity nurse” prevailed. In French, for example, the job title sage-femme 'midwife' was not used as a derivation basis for the male equivalent, but the term accoucheur 'obstetrician' was introduced. Often female job titles are derived from newly created male job titles.

Examples:

Male and female job titles and their prestige

Often male job titles are associated with a more prestigious job than their female counterpart. This means that feminine forms are often associated with professional activities that are not as prestigious and have a lower status within the relevant society than their male counterparts.

Examples:

  • Director (m) runs a company vs. Direktrice (w) executives in the clothing industry
  • French: couturier (fashion designer) vs. couturière (dressmaker)
  • Polish: kierownik (m) runs a company vs. kierowniczka (w) runs a shop

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Job title  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Regina Möller Witte: Female job titles in the current German . Frankfurt 1988, p. 31 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Architects Act. In: landesrecht-bw.de. juris GmbH, accessed on November 11, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Engineering Act. In: landesrecht-bw.de. juris GmbH, accessed on November 11, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Law on the establishment of a chamber of engineers and on the professional code of consulting engineers in Baden-Württemberg. In: landesrecht-bw.de. juris GmbH, accessed on November 11, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Law on the professional designation "State-certified food chemist" and "State-certified food chemist" (Food Chemist Professional DesignationG) . (No longer available online.) In: Berlin regulations information system. November 12, 1997, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 12, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.gesetze.berlin.de
  6. ↑ Law on the protection of the professional title “State-certified food chemist” and “State-certified food chemist” (LMChemG). (No longer available online.) In: Brandenburgisches Vorschriftensystem (BRAVORS). November 26, 1998, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 12, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bravors.brandenburg.de
  7. ↑ Law amending the law on the professional title "food chemist". (PDF) In: Homepage of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia . February 28, 2006, accessed November 11, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Law for the protection of the professional title “food chemist” or “food chemist” (food chemist law). (No longer available online.) In: Justizportal Hamburg. June 13, 1977, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 12, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.landesrecht.hamburg.de
  9. ↑ Recognition of job titles ( Memento from February 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Berlin Senate Department for Science and Culture
  10. ↑ SR 414.110
  11. ↑ SR 412.10
  12. ^ Ingrid Samel: Introduction to Feminist Linguistics . Berlin 2000, p. 95-96 .
  13. ↑ Marinel Gerritsen: Towards a more gender-fair usage in Netherlands Dutch. In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages: The linguistic representation of women and men. Volume 2. Benjamin, Amsterdam 2002, pp. 81-108, here p. 98 (English; full text on researchgate.net).
  14. ↑ Gisela Klann-Delius : Language and Gender: An Introduction. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2005, ISBN 3-476-10349-8 , p. 183 ( preview on springer.com).
  15. ^ Elisabeth Burr: Gender and language politics in France. In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages: The linguistic representation of women and men. Volume 3. Benjamin, Amsterdam 2003, pp. 119-139, here p. 122 (English; PDF: 226 kB, 22 pages on uni-leipzig.de).
  16. ↑ Raphaëlle Rérolle: L'Académie française se résout à la féminisation des noms de métiers. In: Le Monde . February 28, 2019, accessed on May 24, 2020 (French).
  17. ^ Hadumod Bußmann, Marlis Hellinger: German. Engendering female visibility in German . In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages. The linguistic representation of women and men . Volume 3. Amsterdam 2003, p. 141-174 (154-155) .
  18. ↑ a b Regina Möller Witte: Female job titles in the current German . Frankfurt 1988, p. 83 .
  19. ↑ Regina Möller Witte: Female job titles in the current German . Frankfurt 1988, p. 31-32 .
  20. ↑ Uwe Kjær Nissen: Gender in Spanish . In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages. The linguistic representation of women and men . Volume 2. Amsterdam 2002, p. 251-279 (263) .
  21. ^ A b c Marion Saliter: French - a man's language? Comparative studies on French and German. Shaker, Aachen 2003, ISBN 3-8322-1399-6 , p. 116 (doctoral thesis University of Passau 2002).
  22. ^ Peter Haase: Feminization in the Spanish-speaking area. Professional, official and functional titles: El juez, la juez, la jueza . Hamburg 2010, p. 155-156 .
  23. ↑ a b Ingrid Samel: Introduction to Feminist Linguistics . Berlin 2000, p. 105 .
  24. ^ Hadumod Bußmann, Marlis Hellinger: German. Engendering female visibility in German . In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages. The linguistic representation of women and men . Volume 3. Amsterdam 2003, p. 141-174 (154) .
  25. ^ Marion Saliter: French - a man's language? Comparative studies on French and German. Shaker, Aachen 2003, ISBN 3-8322-1399-6 , p. 119 (doctoral thesis University of Passau 2002).
  26. ↑ Gabriela Koniuszaniec, Hanka Blaszkowska: Language and gender in Polish . In: Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Gender Across Languages. The linguistic representation of women and men . Volume 3. Amsterdam 2003, p. 259-285 (268) .