This article describes how to enable pronouns for your organization. If you are an enterprise Webex App user and you want to choose, change, share, or hide your pronouns, read Set your pronouns.

If you choose to use this feature in your organization, it is your organization's responsibility to use it in line with your policies and values; to educate your users on those polices, and to provide the necessary safeguards for its use, such as a channel for users to report abuse.

Please read the Legal Notice about pronouns in Webex and share it with Webex users in your organization.

By default, Allow pronouns is off for each organization. To allow pronouns for your organization:
1

Sign in to Control Hub at https://admin.webex.com and go to Organization Settings > User Attributes.

2

Click Edit user attributes.

3

On the Profile attributes tab, find the Pronouns section.

By default, Allow pronouns is off.
4

Toggle Allow pronouns to on.

5

Select whether users can add custom pronouns:

  • Selectable by users means that users can choose pronouns from the list provided in Webex.

     
    Selectable by users is only available in English versions of Webex App. Users of the App in other languages cannot choose their pronouns when you make this choice.
  • Customizable by users means that users can type their own pronouns (up to 75 characters).

 
These options are not available if you synchronize pronouns from Active Directory. The user can see (and optionally share) their pronouns that came from Active Directory, but can't change it through Webex App.

Webex App users in your organization can now set their pronouns.

They can also choose if they want to share their pronouns, and with whom (a user's pronouns are set to "Hidden" by default, unless the user chooses to share them).

6

(Optional) Toggle Allow pronouns to off to disable the pronouns feature across your organization.

Who controls a user's pronouns?

An enterprise Webex App user is able to choose whether to use the pronouns feature, what pronouns are displayed, and with whom they want to share those pronouns.

These are the user options and implications:

  • Only the user can change their pronouns or their pronoun visibility.
  • People must use a desktop version of Webex to change their pronouns or pronouns visibility. We don't currently support changing pronouns or their visibility on mobile versions.
  • If a user selects or enters their pronouns, but does not choose to share them by changing the visibility from "Hidden", then no one will see that user's pronouns.
  • If a user selects or enters their pronouns, then they can choose how to share them:

    • Hidden pronouns: This is the most private option. It is selected by default until the user changes it.

      The user's pronouns are hidden from all other people, including the organization's administrators. The Webex operations team can access this and other identity data, but strictly as necessary for operating and supporting the service.

    • People in my organization: Other Webex users within the user's Webex organization, including the user's Webex organization's administrator, can see the user's pronouns.
  • After a user shares their pronouns, other Webex users in that user's organization will see any subsequent changes the user makes to their pronouns.
  • A user can change their pronouns visibility to "Hidden" at any time.

Where do a user's pronouns display?

When enterprise Webex App users choose to share their pronouns in Webex, they are visible to other Webex users in their organization, in the following places in the Webex App:

  • Profile menu
  • Contact card
  • Headers in direct message spaces (not on mobile versions)
  • Contacts profile (not on mobile versions)

How can user pronouns get into Webex?

The Webex identity store has a pronoun field for every user that is empty by default.

These are the ways that users' pronouns can get into the Webex identity store:

  • Users select or input their pronouns through the Webex App.

  • Webex synchronizes the pronouns from Active Directory.

    This is only possible if the administrator maps the Active Directory attribute, which contains the pronouns field, from Active Directory to Webex. After synchronization, the pronouns are in the Webex identity store. They are hidden from everyone by default, including your organization's administrators. Users can see their own synchronized pronouns in their profiles.

    If the administrator does not map the pronouns field from Active Directory to Webex, then the pronouns do not enter the Webex identity store. Users can select or enter their pronouns through the Webex App if they choose to.

    In both cases, the user's pronouns are hidden until the user chooses to change the visibility.

Pronouns cannot enter the Webex identity store by any of the following means:

  • CSV import. Administrators cannot use a CSV file to populate, read, or change any users' pronouns.
  • Synchronization from directory management tools other than Active Directory.
  • Manual user creation by administrator.

List of pre-defined pronouns available in Webex

  • He/Him/His

  • She/Her/Hers

  • They/Them/Theirs

  • Xe/Xem/Xyr

  • Zie/Zir/Zem

  • He/She/They

  • He/She/Xe

  • He/She/Zie

  • Xe/Xem/Xyr

  • He/They

  • He/Xe

  • He/Zie

  • She/He

  • She/They

  • She/Xe

  • She/Zie


 
The list of pre-defined pronouns is only available in English versions of the Webex App.

Custom pronouns

  • The Customizable by users option enables users to define their own pronouns.

  • Users can enter up to 75 characters in the text field.

  • The administrator can disable Custom pronouns.

Language-specific Pronoun feature differences

  • The list of pre-defined pronouns is only available in English versions of the Webex App.

  • Custom pronouns are available in all Webex App languages, but only when the administrator chooses customizable pronouns.

  • This leaves the possibility of an organization where some users can choose and share their pronouns, while other users cannot.
  • If you want all users to have the option to enter and share their pronouns, irrespective of the language of their Webex App, you must choose Customizable by users when you allow pronouns in Control Hub.

  • If a user of the English Webex App changes to use a different language version, they lose the option to select pronouns. Other users won’t see the pronouns they selected and shared while using the English version.

    This user can still enter and share their pronouns if you enable Customizable by users.

    See the following table for the different scenarios.

Table 1. Pronouns feature behavior by organization setting and user's App language
The way you configure Pronouns featureUsers of English Webex AppUsers of Webex App in other languages
Allow pronouns is Off
  • Cannot select, enter or share their own pronouns.
  • Cannot see others' pronouns.
  • Cannot select, enter or share their own pronouns.
  • Cannot see others' pronouns.
Selectable by users
  • Can select their own pronouns.
  • Can share their own pronouns.
  • Can see shared pronouns selected by other English App users.
  • Don't see pronouns from users of Webex App in other languages (because those users can't select, enter, or share their pronouns with this option).
  • Cannot select, enter or share their own pronouns.
  • Can see shared pronouns selected by English App users.
Customizable by users (default when on)
  • Can select their own pronouns.
  • Can enter their own custom pronouns
  • Can share their own pronouns.
  • Can see shared pronouns selected by other English App users.
  • Can see shared custom pronouns entered by users of Webex App in other languages.
  • Can enter their own custom pronouns
  • Can share their own pronouns.
  • Can see shared pronouns selected by other English App users.
  • Can see shared custom pronouns entered by users of Webex App in other languages.
Syncing an attribute from Active Directory that maps to the pronoun attribute in Webex App
  • Cannot select or enter their own pronouns (in Webex App).
  • Cannot use Webex App to change or delete their pronouns that came from AD.
  • Can share their pronouns that came from AD.
  • Can see others' shared pronouns that came from AD.
  • Cannot select or enter their own pronouns (in Webex App).
  • Cannot use Webex App to change or delete their pronouns that came from AD.
  • Can share their pronouns that came from AD.
  • Can see others' shared pronouns that came from AD.