Re: Masculine Default Bias

Tess, & all,

I just finished reading this paper (not the 11 pages of references!) - it
is so fantastic! I highly recommend everyone on this list read this.
Perhaps then, the W3C can get a glimpse of how far we have to go to support
diversity in this organization.

Cheers,

-Heather

On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 8:41 AM Theresa O'Connor <hober@apple.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I read this paper for a class earlier this summer, and I was happy to
> learn via one of the authors on Twitter that it's been published.
>
> Masculine Defaults: Identifying and Mitigating Hidden Cultural Biases
>
>
> https://depts.washington.edu/sibl/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Cheryan-Markus-2020-Psychological-Review.pdf
>
> I highly, highly recommend it.
>
> Here's the abstract:
>
> > Understanding and remedying women’s underrepresentation in
> > majority-male fields and occupations require the recognition of a
> > lesser-known form of cultural bias called masculine defaults.
> > Masculine defaults exist when aspects of a culture value, reward, or
> > regard as standard, normal, neutral, or necessary characteristics or
> > behaviors associated with the male gender role. Although feminist
> > theorists have previously described and analyzed masculine defaults
> > (e.g., Bem, 1984; de Beauvoir, 1953; Gilligan, 1982; Warren, 1977),
> > here we define masculine defaults in more detail, distinguish them
> > from more well-researched forms of bias, and describe how they
> > contribute to women’s underrepresentation. We additionally discuss how
> > to counteract masculine defaults and possible challenges to addressing
> > them. Efforts to increase women’s participation in majority-male
> > departments and companies would benefit from identifying and
> > counteracting masculine defaults on multiple levels of organizational
> > culture (i.e., ideas, institutional policies, interactions,
> > individuals).
>
>
>
> Tess
>
>

-- 
Heather Vescent <http://www.heathervescent.com/>
Co-Chair, Credentials Community Group @W3C
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