Ducks in a Row: Google and Bias
by Miki Saxon
Just as people are hard wired to respond to attractiveness they harbor other biases.
And just as the bias for attractiveness is anthropological, not biological, so are other biases.
Biases are fueled by assumptions, which are rarely logical—or conscious.
Google, along with most of tech, is rife with biases—both pro and con.
The idea of unconscious bias came to the attention of Google HR boss Laszlo Bock via a story in the New York Times about the biases among American university science professors regarding the difference in competency between female and male students (the women were ranked as less competent).
Unconscious bias, the sometimes useful tendency to make snap judgments (that subway car is empty for a reason), guides us into unexamined bigotry (she’s a woman, not a leader).
Google being Google they approached the situation using a combination of education—not just for executives and managers, but for everybody—
plus four specific steps to identify and deal with unconscious bias;
- Gather facts.
- Create a structure for making decisions.
- Be mindful of subtle cues.
- Foster awareness. Hold yourself — and your colleagues — accountable.
Google’s efforts are driven by competitiveness, as opposed to political correctness.
“If we have an employee base that reflects our user base, we are going to better understand the needs of people all over the world,” said Brian Welle, the researcher in charge of Google’s diversity training workshops. “Having people with a different worldview and different ways of solving problems gives you the raw materials to be more innovative and to be able to solve problems that nobody has asked before.”
Flickr credit: Don Graham | YouTube credit: Life at Google
October 28th, 2014 at 1:16 am
[…] Valley needs to wake up, bite the bullet and follow the lead of Google, instead of pulling Andreessen’s rationalizing over their collective […]