Prevalence and Impact of Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Unconscious biases at the workplace are prevalent in organizations, often based on age, caste, religion, and gender. These biases manifest in various ways, including the perception that women with children lack ambition, possess inferior leadership capabilities compared to men, or do not aspire to leadership roles.
While many organizations have implemented policies to prohibit gender discrimination and introduced structured programs to address cultural bias, employees are not always receptive. According to the Randstad Gender Perception Survey 2019, 63% of women have either experienced gender discrimination or know of women who have faced it during hiring.
Globally, women earn just 63% of what men earn, while in India, women are paid 20% less than men at supervisory levels. Furthermore, industries dominated by women often pay less than those with higher male representation. These measurable indicators of gender bias go beyond pay discrimination and unequal representation at senior levels.
Addressing Bias in Hiring and Promotion Practices
Organizations need to go beyond primary interventions such as diversity targets and anti-discrimination policies by designing structured interviews and creating gender-neutral job descriptions. Indian organizations can learn from international practices like blind hiring, which anonymizes job applications to eliminate subconscious gender bias.
Qualified women are often overlooked for roles traditionally dominated by men, such as engineering, science, legal, and marketing jobs that require extensive travel. Stereotypes about men being physically and emotionally stronger and women having higher emotional intelligence restrict women to supportive roles, while men are preferred for leadership positions.
Motherhood adds another layer of bias, with women being overlooked for promotions or greater responsibilities due to perceptions that they cannot balance work and family. To overcome these barriers, organizations must set diversity targets across levels and job roles and ensure equal opportunities.
Initiatives to Combat Workplace Bias
Organizations are adopting various initiatives to address unconscious biases. Training programs, employee resource groups for women, and leadership blogs are designed to increase awareness and promote inclusivity. Some organizations use technology such as psychometric tests, gamification, and artificial intelligence to minimize biases, particularly in large-scale hiring processes.
Creating a supportive ecosystem involves measures like gender-neutral policies, such as offering a minimum of 14 weeks of parental leave irrespective of gender. Leadership teams in some firms have been sensitized through workshops covering biases, including gender. Small cultural changes, such as avoiding formal business discussions over dinners, also help foster inclusivity.
Role of Cultural and Structural Changes
Cultural initiatives, such as theatre groups enacting workplace scenarios like hiring, employee engagement, and performance evaluations, help raise awareness about bias. Solutions crowd-sourced from employees during these enactments encourage meaningful conversations and highlight the impact of bias.
Increased visibility for existing women leaders, leadership training, and fair 360-degree review processes are crucial steps toward gender equity. Companies like online grocery retailers in India have improved talent retention by hiring more women and organizing gender sensitization workshops, demonstrating the tangible benefits of such interventions.
The Road Ahead: Creating an Inclusive Workplace
Combating unconscious bias requires sustained effort, from meeting diversity targets to ensuring pay parity and improving women’s workforce participation. Leadership diversity plays a pivotal role in fostering an inclusion mindset within organizations.
Raising awareness about biases and their impact is the first step in eliminating them. A workplace conducive to women’s growth, with robust support systems and inclusive leadership, can pave the way for equal opportunities across genders.
References:
- India Inc scrambles to weed out biases at workplace- Namrata Singh, 05 October, 2019
- Unconscious Bias in the Workplace- Liffy Thomas, 08 November, 2018
- Companies Targetting Unconscious Bias to Maintain Diversity at Workplace- M Saraswathy, 03 July, 2017
- Eliminating Gender Bias to Create a Fairer Workplace- Randstad
- Cos Look to Weed Out ‘Unconscious Biases’- Namrata Singh, 24 October, 2017
