Effective technical communication relies on an analysis of the intended audience. If such an analysis includes the demographics of an audience, it is often primarily concerned with the level of the readers’ knowledge or how much the readers need to know in order to complete a task. Rarely is the gender of the audience taken into consideration, ignoring several decades of research on the different communication styles used and preferred by women and men. When gender is considered, writers often rely on prescriptive guidelines to avoid sexist language or, more positively, to use inclusive language to eliminate bias from their writing.
Lippincott, Gail. STC Orange County (1998). Resources>Bibliographies>TC>Gender