Bias Blindspots: Differences in Women’s Perception of General and Day-to-Day Bias
Unsurprisingly, experiences of bias vary between women and men.
There is also a significant difference in womens' own perception of the bias they face in general, compared to the bias they describe facing day-to-day in their lives at home and work.
Research Goals
On February 24, 2022, Avalanche fielded a deep listening instrument to a national sample of 2,500 Americans to understand their perceptions of gender bias in advance of International Women’s Day. The theme of this year’s IWD is #BreakTheBias. The research sought to understand the impact identity has on the perceptions of gender bias and what women would do differently in a world without bias.
Methodology
An Avalanche Listening Survey combines open and closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions provide rich data sets that allow us to analyze beliefs, values, and emotions related to an issue. Closed-ended questions provide clarity and comparability with existing research. We work with industry leading data collection partners to gather targeted samples of respondents.
Women are much more likely to say they face bias at work than at home. However, the data suggests their overall perceptions of that bias at home might underrepresent the day-to-day bias they experience.
35%
of women say they feel bias in their home life
53%-64%
of women report that an increase in responsibilities of care due to COVID fall mostly to women
Settings in which women feel the effects of bias
The workplace is identified by the majority of women as a place they’ve experienced bias.
Question (closed-ended): How often, if at all, do you feel the effects of gender bias in the following locations?
In their own words: Bias at work
“When I suggested a solution to a problem at work, I was talked over and condescended to about why it was a bad idea, only for my male boss to come to the same solution I had already suggested.”
“At work, I was a maintenance supervisor. Traditionally, back in the day, it was considered a man’s job. The men made me feel like I didn’t know how to do my job because I was a woman.”
“I tried to offer personal experience in a conversation and was purposefully passed over for a man to talk, who had zero experience.”
In their own words: Bias at home
“As a mom and wife, I work, pay half of the bills, take care of the kids, grocery shop, make appointments for the kids and take them, and everything else. I do everything with little help.”
“My husband doesn’t have to work less when my kids were remote learning, but I had to work from home.”
“When we need repairs on our home, men often speak to my husband, even though I am the one asking questions.”
Though the majority of women say that they never or only rarely experience bias at home, when asked specifically about the impact of COVID-19 on family responsibilities, women are much more likely than men to report that the increase has fallen mostly to women.
Caring for children when normal childcare is unavailable
64%
of women believe this responsibility falls mostly to women
42%
of men believe this responsibility falls mostly to women
Caring for sick family members
59%
of women say this falls mostly to women
33%
of men say this falls mostly to women
Men are more likely to report an equal distribution of responsibilities
While both men and women say that the increase in responsibilities at home has fallen mostly to women, men are much more likely than women to report that the increase has fallen to men and women equally.
Question (closed-ended): During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have experienced an increase in responsibilities. Who among your friends and family have you seen take on the following responsibilities?
When asked to think about a world without bias, women frequently responded they would get a better job and feel more free to be themselves.
In their own words
Get a better job/better pay
“I would continue moving up the ladder in my company and spend more time doing the things I love and less time taking care of the home.”
“Work a 12 hour shift knowing my kids are taken care of at home.”
“Get a job and a car to support myself better and not rely on my husband.”
Be myself & express my opinion
“Act in a more assertive manner, choose not to have kids without question, rise in the workplace quicker.”
“Speak my mind without my opinion being trivialized because I am a woman.”
“Feel equal. Stop feeling the expectation of needing to nurture so I put myself first instead of last.”
Feel safe
“Take walks alone at night in the big cities I love.”
“Walk alone anywhere. Express my opinion without fear of violence. Reject romantic advances from a man without worrying for my safety.”
“Not worry so much about my daughter's safety.”
Key Takeaway
These findings suggest that there are gaps between how women believe they experience bias generally, and how women report experiencing bias day-to-day.
This year's International Women's Day theme is #BreakTheBias. To do that - to break the biases women experience in both at work and at home - we need to better understand the connections between the patterns women report experiencing and the underlying biases causing and being reinforced by those patterns.
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