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mithörgesperrt
PI/Ow
Apr 7, 2007 11:50
17 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter

German to English Social Sciences Education / Pedagogy
"Die (school name) verbindet mit ihrem ganzheitlichen Ansatz der Diversity die Intention, die Unterschiede ihrer Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter als Chance für die Organisation zu verstehen"
As this falls under the gender equality section, am looking for a neat way to express "male and female staff"- thanks in advance.
Proposed translations (English)
4 male and female staff (employees)
4 +6 employees
3 +3 staff of both sexes
2 staff/distaff

Discussion

Jonathan MacKerron (asker) Apr 7, 2007:
this appears under the heading "!Netzwerk Frauen – wie Wissenschaftlerinnen gefördert werden", and the section addresses gender-related affirmative action issues, especially from a woman's point of view, so IMHO in this sentence they are differentiating between men and woman staffers.
Stephen Sadie Apr 7, 2007:
the gender issue if you hadn't sepcified actually wishing to differentiate due to your specific context
Stephen Sadie Apr 7, 2007:
jonathan: I have googled "school staff" and "school employees", both with virtually identical numbers of hits so I can only reommend looking to see which are more pertinent or more "native", viel glück. as written below, I would not normally have entered

Proposed translations

1 day 6 hrs
Selected

male and female staff (employees)

Your own suggested phrase as stated in the question above works just fine. You do need the distinction between male and female, and as others have said 'staff' is a better word than 'employees' if you are talking about teaching professionals. So: "...the differences between male and female staff ..."

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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2007-04-08 18:37:12 GMT)
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To be very sure that your translation reflects that you're talking about teaching 'staff' you could also write it as "...the differences between male and female 'teaching staff' ... " (or 'teachers')
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I've decided to go with my intial gut reaction - thanks to all for your thoughtful input."
+3
4 mins

staff of both sexes

one other way of phrasing it...your nasty cold gone, jonathan?
Note from asker:
feeling better thanks, but still herumrotzing
Peer comment(s):
neutral Alan Johnson : Just staff, in English you would not need to differentiate the genders.
24 mins
I know but the asker specifically wanted to
agree Mihaela Boteva : Just staff. On the website for my son's school you can find 'staff directory', which covers the 'Front Office', 'Classrooms' and 'Student Services' - http://www.gdrsd.org/Schools/FloRo/FRStaffDir.html.
52 mins
thanks mihaela
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : this might solve the Pc issue here
4 hrs
thanks ingeborg
agree Lancashireman : In a UK school, definitely 'staff'. This even includes the caretakers, cleaners, 'dinner ladies' and PE teachers.
5 hrs
thanks andrew
neutral yieto : In North America especially, you sometimes run into "staff" referring to employees who are not instructors (e.g. "teachers and staff" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="teachers and staff"&bt... Depends on target audience, I guess.
8 hrs
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+6
4 mins

employees

Covers both genders, and is less "wordy" than the German version.
Note from asker:
Courtney, but the text wants to specifically differentiate between men and women staffers here
Peer comment(s):
neutral Stephen Sadie : differentiation of the geners?? and staff is far more common as a term than employees in an educational context ("school")
5 mins
agree Marcelo Silveyra : School employees is actually pretty good and used commonly to include staff other than just teachers...I also feel that it carries the tone of the original better than "staff". As for differentation of genders, not a problem! "Male and female employees"
9 mins
agree Alan Johnson
24 mins
agree BrigitteHilgner : With Marcelo.
27 mins
agree Tanja K
2 hrs
agree Sonja Poeltl
3 hrs
agree yieto : With Marcelo also. Note also that "staff" in a school context is sometimes used to refer to employees who are not instructors (in North America at least).
8 hrs
neutral Joseph Tein : The source text is specifically differentiating between male and female; the translation should include this distinction. Sometimes you need all the words to be clear!
1 day 6 hrs
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10 hrs

staff/distaff

While I agree that only 'staff' is needed, distaff indicates
female in the US, usually referred to as the 'distaff side'

...differences of its staff (and distaff) as an opportunity...

To American ears it would come across as gently tongue in cheek

Peer comment(s):
neutral Joseph Tein : I think 'distaff side' is a very old-fashioned term, not found in contemporary writings. Most modern 'American ears' would not have heard this term!
19 hrs
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