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Dana Chardon - Unconscious Biasses

Dana Chardon - Unconscious Biasses

Unconscious Biasses - presented by Dana Chardon with input from the Panel at the December 2013 Girl Geek Sydney event hosted by Atlassian.

Girl Geek Sydney

December 10, 2013
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  1. Unconscious Biasses Most people would agree that gender bias exists...in

    others. All of us, myself included, are biased, whether we admit or not. Thinking that weʼre objective can actually make this even worse, creating what social scientists call a “bias blind spot”.
  2. Objective of this meeting: The simple act of talking openly

    about behavioral patterns makes the subconscious conscious.
  3. Long term objective: Talking can transform minds... which can transform

    behaviours... which can transform institutions.
  4. Food for thought: The subject itself presents a paradox, forcing

    us to acknowledge differences while trying to achieve the goal of being treated the same.
  5. More food for thought: Even today, mentioning gender in work

    situations often makes people visibly uncomfortable.
  6. One last thing to keep in mind.. “I had never

    spoken about being a woman in public before, not once...I actually had quite a lot to say.” “...we need to be able to talk about gender without people thinking we were crying for help, asking for special treatment or about to sue.”
  7. So how does all of this get started? From the

    moment weʼre born, boys & girls are treated differently. Parents tend to talk to girl babies more than boy babies. Mothers overestimate the crawling ability of their sons and underestimate that of their daughters. Reflecting belief that girls need to be helped more than boys, mothers often spend more time comforting and hugging infant girls and more time watching infant boys play by themselves. Source: Melissa W. Clearfield and Naree M Nelson, “Sex Differences in Mother’s Speech and Play Behavior with 6,9 and 14 Month-Old Infants”, Sex Roles 54, Nos 1-2 (2006): 127-137 & Gretchen S Lovas “Gender & Patterns of Language Development in Mother-Toddler and Father-Toddler Dyads”, First Language 31, no.1 (2011): 83-108. Emily R Mondschein, Karen E. Adolph & Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonday, “Gender Bias in Mothers’ Expectations About Infant Crawling”, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 77, No.4 (2000): 304-16. Clearfield & Nelson, “Sex Differences in Mother’s Speech & Play Behavior,” 127-37.
  8. November 2011: Gymboree Source: Emma Gray, “Gymboree Onesies: ‘Smart Like

    Dad’ for Boys, ‘Pretty for Mommy’ for Girls”, The Huffington Post, November 16, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/gymboree-onesies_n_1098435.html.
  9. August 2011: JcPenney Source: Andrea Chang, “JC Penney Pulls “I’m

    Too Pretty to Do Homework’ Shirt”, Los Angeles Times blog, August 31, 2011, http:// latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/08/jcpenney-pulls-im-too-pretty-to-do-homework-shirt.html.
  10. “Stereotype Threat” Social scientists have observed that when members of

    a group are made aware of a negative stereotype, they are more likely to perform according to that stereotype.
  11. Example of Stereotype Threat: Source: Kelly Danaher and Christian S

    Crandall, “Stereotype Threat in Applied Settings Re-Examined”, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 38, no. 6 (2008): 1639-55.
  12. Result: Stereotype threat discourages girls and women from entering technical

    fields and is one of the key reasons that so few study computer science. Source: Jenessa R. Shapiro & Amy M Williams, “The Role of Stereotype Threats in Undermining Girls’ and Women’s Performance and Interest in STEM Fields,” Sex Roles 66, nos. 3-4 (2011): 175-83.
  13. The Impostor Syndrome Many people, especially women, feel fraudulent when

    they are praised for their accomplishments. Instead of feeling worthy of recognition, they feel undeserved and guilty as if a mistake has been made. Source: Peggy McIntosh, “Feeling Like a Fraud,” Wellesley Centers for Women working paper no. 18, (Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Publications, 1985.)
  14. Example 1: Assessments of students in a surgery rotation found

    that when asked to evaluate themselves, the female students gave themselves lower scores than the male students despite faculty evaluations that showed the women outperformed the men. Source: S. Scott Lind et al., “Competency-Based Student Self-Assessment on a Surgery Rotation,” Journal of Surgical Research 105, no. 1 (2002): 31-34.
  15. Example 2: A survey of several thousand potential political candidates

    revealed that despite having comparable credentials, the men were about 60% more likely to think that they were “very qualified” to run for political office. Source: Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox, Men Rule: The Continued Under-Representation of Women in US Politics (Washington, D.C.: Women & Politics Institute, American University of School of Public Affairs, January 2012), http://www.american.edu/spa/wpi/ upload/2012-Men-Rule-Report-final-web.pdf
  16. Example 3: A study of close to 1,000 Harvard law

    students found that in almost every category of skills relevant to practicing law women gave themselves lower scores than men. Source: Working Group on Student Experiences, Study on Women’s Experiences at Harvard Law School (Cambridge, MA: Working Group on Student Experiences, February 2004), http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/experiences/FullReport.pdf.
  17. The Impostor Syndrome It follows that in situations where a

    man and a woman each receive negative feedback, the womanʼs self confidence and self-esteem drop to a much greater degree. The internalization of failure and the insecurity it breeds hurts future performance, so this pattern has serious long term consequences. Source: Tomi-Ann Roberts & Susan Nolan-Hoeksema, “Sex Differences in Reactions to Evaluative Feedback,” Sex Roles 21 nos. 11-12 (December 1989): 725-47; Maria Johnson & Vicki S. Helgeson, “Sex Differences in Response to Evaluative Feedback: A Field Study,” Psychology of Women Quarterly 26, no. 3 (2002): 242-51. Sylvia Beyer, “Gender Differences in Causal Attributions by College Students of Performance on Course Examinations,” Current Psychology 17, no. 4 (1998): 354.
  18. The Heidi/Howard Study Source: Kathleen McGinn & Nicole Tempest, Heidi

    Roizen, Harvard Business School Case Study #9-800-228 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2009).
  19. Success & Likeability Success and like-ability are positively correlated for

    men and negatively correlated for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men & women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less. Source: Madeline E Heilman & Tyler G Okimoto, “Why Are Women Penalized for Success at Male Tasks?: The Implied Communality Deficit,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 1 (2007): 81-92;
  20. Success & Likeability Our stereotype of men holds that they

    are providers, decisive and driven. Our stereotype of women holds that the are caregivers, sensitive and communal. Because we characterize men & women in opposition to each other, professional achievement and all the traits associated with it get placed in the male column.
  21. Success & Likeability Our entrenched cultural ideas associate men with

    leadership qualities and women with nurturing qualities and put women in a double bind. If a woman is competent, she doesnʼt seem nice enough. If a woman is nice, she is considered more nice than competent. Source: Professor Deborah Gruenfeld, Professor of Leadership & Organisational Behaviour at Stanford (Page 43)
  22. Hewlett-Packard Study An internal report at HP revealed that women

    only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100% of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60% of the requirements. Source: Georges Desvaux, Sandrine Devillard-Hoellinger, and Mary C. Meaney, “A Business Case for Women,” The McKinsey Quarterly (September 2008): 4, httpL//www.mckkinseyquarterly.com/A_Business_Case_for_Women_2192.
  23. A few points about mentoring Strongest relationships spring out of

    a real & often earned connection felt by both. Peers can also mentor & sponsor one another.
  24. Objective of this meeting: The simple act of talking openly

    about behavioral patterns makes the subconscious conscious.
  25. Long term objective of this meeting: Talking can transform minds...

    which can transform behaviours... which can transform institutions.
  26. Agenda Timeline: birth to professional career..and beyond as time permits!

    1. Birth: Stereotype Threats..and not just as a baby! 2. The Impostor Syndrome: Why so hard on ourselves? 3. The Heidi/Howard Study: Others are hard on us too. 4. The Hewlett Packard Study: Yet we continue to be hard on ourselves?!? 5. The Plant Study: Little things can make all the difference. 6. Success in Mentoring: Deloitteʼs Leading to WIN Womenʼs Initiative