Unbias me!

I don’t think I have any biases? Even if I do, why do I even need to challenge and break them? What’s in it for me? If these questions resonate with you, read on. There are 2 sides of this coin : logical & philosophical. Being a Data Scientist myself, I would not be doing justice to my profession if I did not talk about it from the data angle first. Let’s talk about the impact of gender biases in hiring — a recent report by McKinsey stated that if we could have women participate in the workforce at the same rate as men in terms of wages, job mixes etc, we potentially would be adding about USD 28 trillion more to the world GDP! Which basically means that creating a gender diverse workforce is good for the overall world economy!

Convincing enough? Well if you are not too amused with the geeky angle to it, maybe this philosophical angle would inspire you! Unconscious bias is not some hardwiring that we are born with. Our upbringing, our experiences, our social structure has influenced our brains to think in a particular way. We are unknowingly making decisions that is introducing more discrimination into the world! It pains me to even believe that unconsciously I am making things worse! Who does not want to live in a world that is fair and one feels free to just be themselves, and acknowledging our biases is the most important step towards achieving that dream.

So now coming to why “unbias.me”. For folks who know me, know how this is one of my favourite topics for conversation and sometimes heated emotional debates (believe me I have had multiple public outbursts while debating). My professionals and personal experiences have created a kingdom of stories in my head and I often find myself narrating them to people I love and more often to strangers. But this was not always the case. In the early days of my career, I often kept my opinions to myself because I saw no use in reiterating things that folks already know. The more I started voicing my opinion, I realized that I have never been more wrong. Sometimes it’s just simple things like sharing your personal stories that can set one free! I realized that there are always opportunities to learn from one’s personal journeys and I decided that I wanted to do my bit to spread this accumulated wisdom (apologies for the bragging).

Hence the idea of “unbias.me” with which I hope to create a community and network where we can share our stories and learn from each other. As a first step on this mission, I would love to start with putting out the voice in my own head out there in the world! In time, I am hopeful we will be able to build a strong community that challenges each other’s biases and this would be a first step towards creating a world where equality, equity and freedom prevails. Your voice matters, so let’s make it count.

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