Aren't we all biased?

There was a research experiment conducted where around 22 people were asked a simple riddle. The riddle goes like

A father is about to bring his son for the job interview applying for a position at a large stock brokers company. Just as they arrive at the parking lot, the son's phone rings. He looks at his father, who says, "Go ahead, answer it."

The caller is the trading company's CEO who says

"Good luck, son, you've got this."

The son ends the call and looks at his father, next to him, in their car.

How is this possible?

Some of the interesting answers were

1)    It was a recorded tape

2)    Maybe it was the grandfather who called

3)    Maybe it was a prank

4)    His name might be ‘SON’

5)    Maybe it is some work joke

And most were extremely confused.

 The answer to the riddle is extremely simple.

"The CEO is his mother."

Isn’t it interesting that most people have a subconscious bias that the CEO needs to be a man? We always think that we are not sexist, but the bias exists in our minds. Subconscious bias is the first step that hinders the progression of women in higher management. We need first to acknowledge this and work on it.

Women make great CEOs as well, yet only 5% of the fortune 500 CEOs are women. What’s shocking is that HR is considered a female-dominated industry with only 31% female CHROs in India as per 2019 data.

It is high time for not just the senior leadership including HRs, but also each and every stakeholder including clients, line managers, employees, etc to show their commitment towards having a diverse and accommodating workforce. 

Let us all take the leap of faith and build a better world that is free from biases. After all, kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.