So you think you're not biased?

Society has stereotypes and even though we talk of gender equality there remains an expectation that women are kind, helpful, supportive, compassionate, nurturing, considerate, sympathetic and even deferential. Men on the other hand are expected to be determined, focused, decisive, competent, and simply tough. "Grown men don't cry"... really?

Angeline Jolie made a thoughtful statement in her IHF Article (1) "Girls are often conditioned to think that they are good only when they serve others, and selfish or wrong if ever they focus on their own needs and desires." You may say "not true" however I am convinced that you will find more examples of this conditioning than the reverse. In some societies women are deprived of formal education and are forced to comply with the stereotype of the giver, the nurturer, the one who stays at home.

Professor Frank Flynn(2) presented his students a case study of Heidi Roizen (3), a highly successful female entrepreneur. One section of the class received a version of the case called “Howard” Roizen (same case, just different pronouns) and the other section received the original case.

In an interview Frank commented on the results when he asked his students to provide feedback on the competence and likeability of Roizen: "The results show that students were much harsher on Heidi than on Howard across the board. Although they think she’s just as competent and effective as Howard, they don’t like her, they wouldn’t hire her, and they wouldn’t want to work with her. As gender researchers would predict, this seems to be driven by how much they disliked Heidi’s aggressive personality. The more assertive they thought Heidi was, the more harshly they judged her (but the same was not true for those who rated Howard)."

Women who deliver results at work may be recognised for the outcome however are sometimes described as formidable, aggressive, ballsy(!), difficult, tough and determined. These adjectives are not meant as compliments and are a clear demonstration that the unconscious bias in our society remains an undercurrent which stacks the deck against women. Same outcome - a worse review because women are expected to conform.

Some of the greatest advances in science, arts, humanities, politics and business have been brought about by amazing women (4). Women who have had to fight for their place, women who have had to invest so much more than their male counterparts to be recognised. We live in a world with deep conscious and unconscious bias.

The most open minded members of society will argue that they are absolutely unbiased. You may be one of them. The next time you are in a meeting and hear a women ask a question, listen carefully to the answer. Would the same answer have been given if the question came from a male colleague? Are there equal numbers of women and men around the table? Are the women given as much 'air-time' as the men? If yes then you may have the privilege of working in a team which recognises women and men as equals. If not, think about what you could do to address the unconscious bias in your team. It starts with the simplest thing: recognise it!

Let's make the world better and give everyone an equal chance: one step, one sentence, one meeting, one encounter at a time.

References

1. https://www.iforher.com/motivation/society-women/angelina-jolie-woman-instinct-to-nurture-caring-is-abused/
2. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/francis-j-flynn
3. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/news-history/gender-related-material-new-core-curriculum
4. https://www.livescience.com/10-influential-women-in-history.html