Writing about ethnicity

Welcome to Imperial’s guide for writing about ethnicity. It is intended as a resource for all Imperial staff and students who are writing official communications on behalf of the College.

The guidance is informed by these core principles: 

  • only refer to ethnicity if it is relevant  
  • be as specific as possible, avoid broad categories and labels  
  • focus on the person or group you’re communicating about 
  • respect how the person or group describes their identity 

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions about this guidance, contact the Design and Editorial team at Style Guide (style DOT guide AT imperial.ac.uk) or on +44 (0)20 7594 6134. 

This guidance was last updated 17 November 2022. 

Our guidance for writing about ethnicity

Main links

Core principles for communicating about ethnicity

The guiding principles for Imperial staff and students writing on behalf of the College.

Use ethnicity where possible, not race

Why we recommend using the term 'ethnicity' in official communications.

General or umbrella terms

When you can’t be specific, you could use a general term. Learn which we recommend and why.

Capitalisation

When and why we prefer to capitalise ethnicity descriptors.

Mixed ethnic backgrounds and ethnoreligious groups

Writing about people of Mixed ethnic backgrounds and from ethnoreligious groups.

Alternative (alt) text captions and ethnicity

When it's relevant – and when it's not – to include ethnicity in alternative text captions.

Useful resources

Further reading on how to write about ethnicity.

About this guidance

Who this guidance is for, why we need it and how it was developed.