When I was working on my book Breaking the Gender Code, it was my son who helped me to see that the biases around gender are a type of coding, inspired by his own computer coding lessons at school. We’re coded by the Gender Code to see men and women as intrinsically different. And to lean into stereotypes around men being better at STEM and women being better at creative and caring roles.
So in honor of IWD 20222, here’s five ways we need to break the bias and ditch the out of date Gender Code:
1. Early intervention matters
Gender stereotyping starts from birth, with studies revealing toddlers are spoken to differently, based on their gender. Boys are typically spoken to about counting and numbers as much as three times more than girls, and another study found that in museums, boys are engaged with 2-3 times more than girls.
By setting these biases and limiting beliefs early, we’re clipping the wings of young girls who might actually love a future working in technology and STEM.
Break the Bias: Babies and children are naturally curious, so encourage their natural curiosity and nurture their unique interests, rather than looking at them through a gender lens. Encourage girls in primary and high school to see tech and science as exciting prospects for jobs and careers, while at the same time encouraging boys to consider more ‘caring’ careers rather than being pigeon-holed into traditionally male roles.
For leaders, decision makers and people who have the power to effect change in tech businesses:
2. Hiring more women
While we’re seeing more women in tech roles and interviewing for tech roles, there’s still a huge barrier for women in terms of unconscious and conscious bias in the hiring process.
Diversity and gender targets can help with this, but we need to break the biases and remove any barriers to women entering the sector.
Break the Bias: Putting forward anonymous applications for jobs that don’t mention name/gender can help, and so can looking at female-only recruitment for roles, in order to level out the playing field.
Continue reading: https://womenlovetech.com/5-reasons-to-break-the-bias-around-women-in-tech-for-iwd/
So in honor of IWD 20222, here’s five ways we need to break the bias and ditch the out of date Gender Code:
1. Early intervention matters
Gender stereotyping starts from birth, with studies revealing toddlers are spoken to differently, based on their gender. Boys are typically spoken to about counting and numbers as much as three times more than girls, and another study found that in museums, boys are engaged with 2-3 times more than girls.
By setting these biases and limiting beliefs early, we’re clipping the wings of young girls who might actually love a future working in technology and STEM.
Break the Bias: Babies and children are naturally curious, so encourage their natural curiosity and nurture their unique interests, rather than looking at them through a gender lens. Encourage girls in primary and high school to see tech and science as exciting prospects for jobs and careers, while at the same time encouraging boys to consider more ‘caring’ careers rather than being pigeon-holed into traditionally male roles.
For leaders, decision makers and people who have the power to effect change in tech businesses:
2. Hiring more women
While we’re seeing more women in tech roles and interviewing for tech roles, there’s still a huge barrier for women in terms of unconscious and conscious bias in the hiring process.
Diversity and gender targets can help with this, but we need to break the biases and remove any barriers to women entering the sector.
Break the Bias: Putting forward anonymous applications for jobs that don’t mention name/gender can help, and so can looking at female-only recruitment for roles, in order to level out the playing field.
Continue reading: https://womenlovetech.com/5-reasons-to-break-the-bias-around-women-in-tech-for-iwd/
