Issue #32: Too much equality

Is there a case to reverse the trend?

“You don’t know anything about this. Give it a rest,” screamed a comment on a public LinkedIn post I had made a few days ago. A couple more in a similar vein followed suit with one of them summarising my post in different words, in a bid to help me ‘understand’ the complex world of tech.

I don’t know any of these commentators, and they don’t seem to know me either.

But the reactions aren’t surprising. The topic was such - about gender biased data fed into AI systems that lead to unequal and unfair outputs.

That kind of subject matter raises the hackles on two counts.

• One, that I had publicly said there is gender bias in our everyday life, a point that most folks are uncomfortable acknowledging.

• And two, would a woman even know anything about advanced things like AI to have an opinion on them, or is she just BullS*itting?

“Offices these days have too much equality. There is a woman in every team, a woman gets interviewed for every job role. These aren’t merit driven, but only to meet some diversity number. Some day soon, we will need to start working towards men’s equality”. I have been subjected to a variation of this dialogue in many a forum across my work life.

There’s something uncomfortable about challenging the status quo of all men offices and teams, making us question if women are even making it to a certain spot in the office because of “merit”.

A 20 member male team? Sounds right.

A 20 member team with 2 women? Diversity is a good thing.

Same team with 5 women? Very well balanced.

A 20 member team with 8 women? Oh gosh! It’s biased hiring, ignoring meritocracy.

A number of research reports and surveys have discovered the unsurprising. Women feel ‘undermined’ with ‘stalled careers’ at the workplace, thanks to inherent biases around whether women deserve roles and promotions.

Gender equality at the workplace is a long game, and is anchored on intentionality. The belief that something isn’t right with the world, if fifty percent of its population aren’t taken into account for when identifying needs of customer segments, when building products and solutions, when ignored from corporate workplaces that are big drivers of white collared economies and steady streams of income.

Belief leads to intent. And intent leads to action. With sustained action shall come change.

Did you know that there’s an entire book that showcases data-backed research on bias against women, in a world predominantly built by men and hence unconsciously for men? From metro routes to pavement structures, from car seat belt structures to impact of bypass surgeries?

If you are looking to add on to your holiday reading list, consider reading “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez. I assure you it will be time well spent.

And perhaps, thanks to the facts that book lays out bare, gender equality will warrant the rightful attention and discussion it deserves.

Not as a hobby item. But as an urgent problem to solve for.

P. S. Views strictly personal. None of the events mentioned in this post refer to the organisation that I am currently associated with.