How to design gender bias out of your workplace

University of Sussex Researcher Tony Roberts wrote in his Ten Rules of Technology that “algorithms are human agency and interests, encoded.” As our society becomes increasingly dependent on AI, a pernicious assumption is spreading that this will be our escape from the influence of bias. Many believe that depending on ‘objective’ machines will free our society from human bias. Heather Krause’s organization, We All Count, reminds us that algorithms are created by humans — who have bias — and that our data choices have sweeping social consequences. We All Count democratizes the tools, training and resources to help everyone better understand data science and how to center equity in how we collect, process and interpret data.

A summary on her own TED page: “Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias — and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm…"

Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon. As she says, "If you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both." Crenshaw’s work is integral to the intersectional perspective we took in creating the GEN Certification. Because of her work, we better understand how multiple facets of identity, such as gender, race, age, neurodivergence, and parenthood/caretaking status intersect to impact individuals’ workplace experiences.

A compelling mix of personal stories, statistics, and research-driven essays that connect public policy to the barriers women in or on the brink of poverty face daily. While many leading D&I efforts have catered to (mostly) white middle class women in corporate America, this report reveals the stark realities faced by the women who make up 2/3 of minimum wage workers. Ultimately optimistic, Shriver focuses on solutions for every audience: If you’re a parent, there’s a chapter for you. If you’re in a decision-making role at your organization, there’s an evidence-backed focus on transformative workplace policies.

Paul Hawken’s treatise from 17 years ago on the relationship between business and the environment still resonates today with those trying to navigate the relationship between business and social equality. Hawken proclaims that the calls for "recycling tin cans in the cafeteria and ceremonial tree planting" — while well intended — are about as helpful as "trying to bail out the Titanic with teaspoons." Just as Hawken makes the case that systemic change in the private sector holds the potential to halt the destruction of our environment, I believe a redesign of the workplace holds the potential to unleash our greatest untapped resource: an increasingly diverse workforce. I found that his lessons on biomimicry and the value of diversity in building strong ecosystems applies to inclusion-centered business design as well.

Men often ask me what they can do to be good allies to women in the workplace. This article reveals why I often respond, “Start with being a good ally at home.” While businesses are evolving to support a more gender-balanced workforce, the pace of change for women in America still lags far behind in another sphere: at home. In heterosexual couples in the U.S., both partners are unlikely to acknowledge openly when the woman is the breadwinner. If she is the breadwinner, she still spends considerably more time on housework, on average, than her husband. Until both genders are on equal footing at home, they will not have the same access to time that allows them to be on equal footing pursuing their careers.

New York Times correspondent Claire Cain Miller writes, “American women of working age are the most educated ever. Yet it’s the most educated women who face the biggest gender gaps in seniority and pay… recently, mounting evidence has led economists and sociologists to converge on a major driver — one that ostensibly has nothing to do with gender. The returns to working long, inflexible hours have greatly increased ... It’s so powerful, researchers say, that it has canceled the effect of women’s educational gains. Just as more women earned degrees, the jobs that require those degrees started paying disproportionately more to people with round-the-clock availability. At the same time, more highly educated women began to marry men with similar educations, and to have children. But parents can be on call at work only if someone is on call at home. Usually, that person is the mother.” This well-researched investigative piece reveals how the nature of work has changed in ways that push couples who have equal career potential to take on unequal roles.