One-Size-fits-Men
This 500 words essay was chosen as the best entry submitted for the prompt “Discuss a current trend/issue in the world and provide original personal insights on the impact it has on various other aspects of the society (economy, business, environment, psychology, etc)” as a part of the Jitheshraj Scholarship application 2020–2021.
Written by Anushree Appandairajan, NIT Trichy- class of 2024.
Half of the world’s population seems to have a superpower — The power of being invisible. For decades, humans have built and designed based on the “reference man”, resulting in a massive gender data gap that renders other genders invisible.
This gender gap impacts their daily lives — from mundane issues like not being able to reach a shelf to life-threatening situations. One such life-threatening situation is misdiagnosis. Medical professions are usually trained only to identify typical male symptoms. The issue stems from decades of studies done with a male as the standard. Additionally, when in pain, they are written off as “over-reacting” and not appropriately diagnosed or given prompt treatment.
The issue becomes critical with the advent of machine learning and, by extension, a world running on algorithms. The thing about software being trained on biased data (which comprises the majority of data available today) is that they get better at being biased. For example, a voice recognition system being fed mostly male voices for comparison is less likely to recognise (and thus record) voices with a higher pitch.
The realisation of the issue’s magnitude brings us to the question — is this gender biasing intentional? In most cases, it does not seem to be. A lot of the male bias comes from developers forgetting to factor in women and non-binary people or not knowing their needs. Nevertheless, such incidents highlight the need for diversity, especially in STEM fields.
The lack of diversity, especially in higher positions, is so common that we have a term for what causes such disparity — the glass ceiling. It refers to the invisible barrier that prevents women and other minorities from reaching higher levels in the hierarchy. Many factors contribute to the glass ceiling including but not limited to discriminatory hiring practices, sexual harassment and hostile work environments. Together they ensure that men hold most executive positions. While the glass ceiling is quite evident to most people in the workplace, it is not easy to prove, thus ensuring it will stay around for a few more decades.
The lack of representation in higher positions leads to a lack of funding for entrepreneurs of other genders who tend to focus on solving issues they face. Therefore the only way we can ensure the inclusion of everyone’s needs is to increase diversity in all rungs of the ladder in all fields.
Funding more research into the needs of different minority groups will provide designers and developers worldwide with the data they need to create products that a wider audience can use, making daily lives less of a struggle. However, inclusion alone will not solve the issue. Those who have had their issues dismissed all their lives will find it harder to identify and design solutions fitting their needs. There is a necessity for a shift in mindset, and inclusion is only the first step in the long journey ahead of our society.
