English Grammar for the Utterly Confused - Laurie Rozakis 2003

The Generic Masculine Pronoun
Chapter 2. Using Pronouns Correctly
Part 1 Welcome to grammarland

Pronouns have number, person, and gender.

Traditionally, a masculine pronoun was used to refer to a single antecedent whose gender is not specified.

A student should turn in his assignments on time.

This usage is no longer considered correct, since it is sexist language. You can use both the masculine and feminine pronouns or recast the sentence to make the pronoun plural:

A student should turn in his or her assignments on time.

Students should turn in their assignments on time.

Which choice is best? Consider rewriting these sentences to make the pronoun plural because this results in smoother sentences.