Inclusion, Inc.. Sara Sanford

Inclusion, Inc. - Sara Sanford


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Wikipedia, s.v. “List of Cognitive Biases,” last modified July 14, 2021, 14:01 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases.

      14 14. Hannah Valantine, “The Science of Diversity and the Impact of Implicit Bias,” National Institutes of Health, 2017, https://diversity.nih.gov/sites/coswd/files/images/2017-12/implicit_bias_talk_for_toolkit_pdf_508c_0.pdf.

      15 15. Kathleen Melymuka, “Why Women Quit Technology,” Computerworld, June 16, 2008, https://www.computerworld.com/article/2551969/it-careers-why-women-quit-technology.html.

      16 16. The term “Weapons of Math Destruction” was coined by former Wall Street quantitative analyst and current mathematician, data scientist, author, and data ethicist Cathy O'Neil.

      I am biased against women in leadership.

      Specifically, I associate men with leadership and career, and women with family.

      If you asked me if I believe women belong in leadership roles, I would confidently answer yes. But, if forced to quickly pair masculine- and feminine-associated terms (man, woman, Mr., Ms.) with domains such as leadership, career, or family, my unconscious is firmly stuck in a biased rut.

      Discovering this bias after taking the first test didn't make me any better at suppressing it in the retakes. My unconscious biases overrode my willpower, every single time.

      This unconscious self-defense system keeps ticking away when we go to work, influencing who we associate with, who we think of as capable, and who we do—or don't—value.

      Understanding how ever-present and influential our biases are is key to understanding why current approaches to DEI aren't working.

      When typically underrepresented individuals are in spaces where we're not used to seeing them, we tend to overestimate their presence. A female minority, for example, can seem like a female majority in a space that is typically male-dominated.

      Because a gender-balanced workforce is a fairly new phenomenon, female voices can be heard as more present than they actually are. Even when we believe we're comparing the talking time of women to that of men, we're unconsciously comparing the talking time of women now to the talking time of women in the past.

      Our perceptions of the ways people behave are built on a baseline of the ways we expect them to behave, and these differences impact how we treat people. Anything exceeding our expectations or past experiences feels extreme, and we push back against it. These unconscious expectations—the norms our amygdala clings to—sabotage one of the common approaches to DEI that has gained momentum over the last few years: leaning in.

      Initially, I was one of her early devotees. When the book came out, I was feeling stuck, but still ambitious. I wanted to be taken seriously.

      Her book seemed to provide answers. If there wasn't a seat for me at the table, I was going to bring a folding chair! If someone spoke over me in a meeting, I was going to insist on finishing my point. I was going to practice The Shine Theory and highlight the work of other women in the office.

      Most daunting: I was going to renegotiate my salary.

      I unearthed my copy of Lean In recently and discovered that I had highlighted the entire section that gives tactical advice on ways women can negotiate and still be seen as “likable” enough for their peers to keep wanting to work with them. At the time of my Lean In enthusiasm, my employer was about to be acquired by another company, giving me an opening to renegotiate my role. I was going to pitch myself for a new position, with a new title and a specific salary. I had memorized all of Sandberg's one-liners. I substituted “we” for “I,” because a woman will still be seen as communal if she asserts, “We had a great year,” as opposed to “I had a great year.” I visualized the conversation, including how I would counter potential objections.

      I remember being more nervous than I expected, but I stuck to my plan. I was polite but firm.


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