The Importance Of Gender Bias

In today’s society, announcing one’s aversion towards people different from them is the fastest way receive ridicule. In general, society has progressed to a point where being xenophobic, racist, and sexist is socially unacceptable. Despite this progress, society still suffers from the effects of racism, xenophobia, and sexism. Why is that? The answer has to do with the fact that while explicit expressions of these behaviors are seen as unacceptable, implicit associations still permeate our society. These associations lead to implicit bias. Implicit bias is readily becoming the most pervasive form of bias in our society. It contributes to both micro and macro-level inequalities, and raising awareness of implicit bias is crucial in order to suppress its effects on society. This paper will start with a discussion of what implicit bias is. This will be followed by a discussion of the effects of implicit bias. It will conclude with a discussion of how implicit bias can be combatted.

Implicit bias plays a significant role in today’s society, whether the members realize it or not. The online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says,” ‘Implicit bias’ is a term of art referring to a relatively unconscious and relatively automatic features of prejudiced judgement and social behavior” (Brownstein 2015). Implicit biases are often based on stereotypes. Stereotypes, as defined by OpenStax, are “oversimplified ideas about groups of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). Implicit biases can be problematic for many reasons. One way implicit biases are troublesome is due to the fact that it is unconscious, so it is usually out of a person’s control. People are often unaware of their own and how they use it. A very common way implicit biases are seen in society is through discrimination. Discrimination is defined as “prejudiced action against a group of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). If a man and a woman are considered as potentials for being hired, the employer may have an implicit bias either towards or against men or women influencing them to hire one over the other based on their gender. This exemplifies a modern concern of gender discrimination as well. Implicit biases can come in many forms from gender, race, weight, sexuality, and many more. These factors can influence an individual’s treatment of others if they have significant bias. In society, these implicit biases can negatively influence minority and other groups and lead to inequality.

Since the beginning of evolution, females have been subjected and objectified based on their gender. History taught us that when during the 19th century, Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist stated in his papers “The Origin of Man” (1859) and “Descent of Man” (1871) that men were superior to women. Unfortunately, such subjections to women still persist today; in politics, education, labor and surprisingly in science.

The force of societal stereotypes is a large part of this gap. Instead of joining STEM careers, the most common careers among women are secretaries, nurses, and elementary and middle school teachers (Mandell). This truly illustrates that when well-rounded, talented women have the choice, they are inclined to delve into the field in which society expects them to belong. In this way, the stereotype of women not being involved in STEM is forcing less women to be involved in these fields. The deficiency of women in technical fields, despite their well-roundedness and ability, can be directly related to unyielding cultural stereotypes that stigmatize women in supposedly masculine fields.

A social bias is a prejudice attitude aimed at a particular race, culture, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation. People with limited vision often form negative opinions toward a group of people without knowing who they are. People have to be careful with the thought process because it can lead him or her to make a judgmental statement toward an individual, or a group of individuals, without the person realizing that the statement or comment was prejudicial. In this paper the concept of social biases,

Bias is something every person has; It is the inclination to feel prejudice towards a certain person, subject, or thing. On a personal level, bias affects just about everything a person could encounter, or has yet to encounter in their lifetime. There are two main types of biases people can have; Cognitive bias involves topics such as social attribution or memory errors, that are quite common and have a wide range of effects on how humans perceive things. The other type of bias is called social biases, or sometimes referred to as attributional bias. Attributional biases affect our everyday social interactions, and has a strong impact on people when trying to assess their own and others behaviors.

I have heard of implicit bias from my high school AP Psychology class. Implicit bias is bias against a certain group of people based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, or any other feature. It is bias that is unconscious and may not be known to that individual may not be aware of. Explicit bias is discrimination that someone is consciously aware of. I took the IAT test relating to gender and STEM. I choose that one because am a female in a male dominated STEM career. The results found that I had no preferences with gender and science. I was not surprised by the results of my test. I do not think I associate one gender with science because I see many males and females in my chemistry and calculus class. I will use my knowledge of implicit bias

There are many issues going on in the public sphere, but the one I want to address would be if women are equally qualified as men for higher paying professional jobs. One text that helps support this issue is a video I found on TED Talk given by Debbie Sterling. In the video, Debbie asked the audience a series of questions about engineers, and then she goes on and explains how difficult it is for women to become engineers because they are set to a social bias. Debbie Sterling discussed that most girls initially view themselves as being a princess and more suited for traditional female roles in the workforce. This behavior and attitude begins at a very early stage and can be associated with how they played as a child and adapted to the social norm. I picked this specific text because I

In addition, there exists an unconscious bias that science and math are typically “male” fields, while arts and hospitalities are primarily “female” fields.

Gender bias, also known as sexism, is a full of attitudes, laws, taboos, preferences, and behaviors that differentiates and discriminates against either sex. These may be a position of which male dominance and female subjugation in the modern society. It could also be a form of sexual stereotypes between men and women, these are commonly experienced in employment versus other positions. A final place that discrimination is faced is the academic environment, the female to male ratios are not in sync in certain programs and courses because of this and it is pressuring men and women to not go into certain fields and do what they love and please. Most advertisements on Television, magazines, newspapers, online ad’s, use a charged sexually image with a female as the star. Women are to be a pleasure for men, and nothing else. Many people have different opinions on genders and sexuality and that is okay, but sometimes you just need to keep them to yourselves.

Sowmya Rajendram identifies the definition of a bias as an inclination to hold a skewed or prejudiced opinion of something or someone and is either negative or positive. For example, the student that is the teacher’s pet never gets in trouble for anything or the same kid constantly getting in trouble in class. The definition of a gender bias however, is a little different. A gender bias in one of the many forms of a bias in our society today and it can be defined as believing a certain group (gender) is superior to the other and discriminating on the basis of this belief. Many people often form a set of assumptions as to what they believe a specific gender can and cannot do, which is not always necessarily fair.

Occupational segregation is a problem that is both created by and reinforces the gender roles in society, creating the gap in female employment and promotion in the science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields. Occupational segregation is both the idea that there are different proportions of men and women across occupations, and that there is an imbalance between men and women when it comes to promotions. Occupational segregation occurs through self-selection, the idea being that women choose to enter “female professions” or don’t seek promotions of their own volition, and from disparities in experience (work and education), typically because opportunities for success are not readily available to women. Both causes

This study will define the environmental influence of patriarchal societal values on women that create an undue gender bias in popular culture. In “Sex and Molecules”, the narrow view of sex identity through a “scientific” view of biology defines the limitations of gender roles in a patriarchal society: “And “biology” excludes the dynamic interweaving of our physical beings with our experience within our environment” (Author? 74). Therefore, the “mechanisms’ of biological interpretations of sex identity do not take into account assumptions of social values, such as gender roles, which often place men above women in a social hierarchy. More so, “From Rosie to Lucy”, also shows the subjective social definition of gender in terms of male and female roles, which defy presumptions about sex identity as a strict biological differentiation. The focus on Gallup Poll studies of women during WWI and WWII shows the temporary status of women in typically “male” orientated jobs as a rationale to break down gender bias: “With the return of peace, women faced layoffs, renewed wage discrimination and segregation” (Author? 343). In this manner, the issue of gender discrimination against women in a patriarchal society has historically dictated the role of women based on social values and environmental factors, such as war. These readings define important aspects of social discrimination that

Parents also have a vital role in influencing the career path their children choose. Children look to their parents as role models and for approval, and parents attitudes and actions will influence their children. They also take into account what job their mother has as compared to their father. In many cases, children start to associate gender with particular jobs when they are very young due to their family life(Stitt, 1988). Stereotypes, like those, are brought forth to girls everyday, ranging from the traditional female jobs to males being more intelligent than females. One example is the fact that there aren’t as many women as men in jobs such as scientists and doctors. Girls often don’t question this idea because it is reinforced by so many people. These stereotypes sometimes get adopted by girls because of this constant reinforcement. Parents have the opportunity either to invalidate these stereotypes or confirm them by their actions and words. They must reassure their children that girls can participate in anything they want, including math and science activities or courses.

Null Hypothesis - Gender bias does not have a role to play in people’s mind-set towards male victims.