Pedagogical introductions to sex and gender diversity in anatomy: Exploring student perspectives

Anatomical education has historically relied on binary terminology, reinforcing the conflation of sex, gender, and gender identity through long-standing social and linguistic norms. To better include gender and sex diverse students and to respect the delineations between gender and sex, educators are incorporating diversity into their courses through educational primers; however, there is a lack of literature on the subject. Thus, this study explores learners' perceptions and attitudes about adding sex and gender diversity into anatomical education programs at a Canadian university. A total of 73 participants responded to a survey informed by grounded theory, and descriptive statistics are used for analysis. Nearly half of learners felt their overall educational experience was enhanced by the inclusion of sex and gender diversity content in their anatomy course and around half of learners felt more knowledgeable about inclusive language. Some learners were inspired to begin using inclusive language following their anatomy course. Overall, these findings suggest that integration of gender and sex diversity could be well-received and valued by anatomy students for humanistic skill development. Emerging themes requiring qualitative insights, including learners' definitions of "inclusive language" and the viability of peer-based learning, will be explored in future work.