WatchYourMouth:DecodingTheLanguageOf UnconsciousBiasAtWork
/Equity
OhBoy,HereSheGoesAgain
Howmanytimeshaveyoubeeninamixedgendergroupandtheleadersayssomethinglike:
“Ok,youguys.It’stimetogetdowntowork. ”
“Oh,man,thisisgoingtobeachallenge”
“Ohbrother,Ican’tbelievethisjusthappenedinthatmeeting.”
Man,guys,brother Noticeatheme?Ido,anditdrivesmecrazy
Now,Iknowthatinthesecases,traditionallymalepronounswereusedtorepresentall membersofagroup,regardlessofgender Thespeakerhadnointentionofoffending anyone
However,“traditional”istricky.Onecouldarguethattraditionally,womendidn’thaveareal voiceinbusinessanyway,orthattraditionally,menwerethebreadwinners*.Theproblemis that“traditions”aresafe-havenswhereunconsciousbiasthrives Andactionsfollowwords
Soifwewanttochangeorganizationalbehaviorandactions,weneedtochange organizationallanguage
EveryoneKnowsIt’sJustAnExpression
Here’swhatoftenhappenswhenIbringupthistopic:
“What’stheharminsaying‘youguys’atateammeeting?Everyoneknowsit’sjustan expression.”
Maybeyou’rethinkingthatexactthingrightnow.
Theharmis,inthiscase,thistypeoflanguagestartstocreate(orfeed)abeliefthatmale teamsarebetter Orworse,thatwomendon’tevenbelonginateamandthatateamisn’t evenalegitimateteamunlessit’sateamofmen Thesewordsthenfilterintoour subconsciousandbecomeacceptednorms
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BookReview:TheDisorderedCosmos
Languagelikethisformsthebuildingblocksforsecond-generationgenderbias,whichare “practicesthatmayappearneutralornon-sexist,inthattheyapplytoeveryone,butwhich discriminateagainstwomenbecausetheyreflectthevaluesofthemenwhocreatedor developedthesetting,usuallyaworkplace**.”Thesebiasescreatebehaviors,bothofwhich areoftenunconscious,andareresponsibleformanyofthechallenge’swomenfaceinthe workplace.Behonest,howoftendoyouassumetheCEOofacompanyisamale?It’snot onlymenthatareguiltyofthis;womenareguiltytoo
Whenthe“NewKid”Isn’taKidatAll
Intheworkplace,biasedlanguagemovesbeyondgender Ihearbiasinlanguageallthetime aboutMillennials(GenerationY),thosebornbetween1981-2001:
“Ijusthiredthenewkid.”
“Ohreally?Youhiredateenager?”
“No,Ihiredsomeonewhojustgraduatedfromcollege.”
“Thenyouhiredacollegegraduateoryoungperson.”
Ievensawgenerationalbiasinarecentarticle:“ manykidsadmittedintotopschoolsare emotionalwrecks”Ifthisisthelanguage,weusetodescribeyoungpeople,thenourwords subconsciouslyallowustotreatthemlikechildren,whichpartlyexplainswhyGenYfeels likenoonetakesthemseriously Isthisreallyhowwewanttotreatthesecondbiggest generation,whohappenstohavethemosteducatedpeopleinitscohort?
Here’sMyQuestion
Here’smyquestion:Areleadersgivingenoughthoughttothelanguagetheyuseonaday-todaybasis?I’mnottalkingabouttrulyoffensivelanguagesuchasN****erorotherethnic slurs I’mtalkingaboutsubtlelanguagethatweallsaywithoutthinking,thetypeoflanguage thatcomesfrom andworse,reinforces unconscious,biasedbehavior
SurpriseOffender:TheOxfordDictionary
Trustme;Iknowhowdifficultitistochangelanguagethatwe’vebeenusingfordecades EvenOxfordisguiltyofit Checkouttheexamplesentencesonthefollowingdefinitions pulledfromOxfordDictionary***:
Ithinktheseexamplesspeakforthemselves!
Here’sMyChallengeForYou
Here’smychallenge:Iwantorganizationalleaderstoslashbiasedlanguagefromtheir vocabulariesstartingnow BelowisalistofwordsthatIcommonlyhearleadersuse,along withnon-biasedalternativeterms Let’sallmakeacommitmenttogethertoeliminatethese basicbiasedwordsfromourvocabularytoday Itwilltakepracticetomakethehabitstick, yetitwillmakeahugedifferenceinorganizationalinclusiveness
StopSayingTheseNineBiasedWordsToday
IadmitthatIstillstrugglewithusingunconsciousbiasedlanguageoften,especiallywhen I’mtired JustyesterdayIsaidinamixed-genderworkshop,“Nowthatyouguysgetthe point,it’stimetomovetothenextsection”Ithenhadtostopmyselfandbacktrackby saying,“Nowthatyouallunderstandthepoint ” PeoplelaughedatmewhenIdidit;some evensaid,“Don’tworryaboutit Weknowwhatyoumean”Yettherewasayoungwoman whothankedmeafterwardsforchangingmylanguage;“Itmademefeelmoreincluded,”she said
Ihopeyouacceptmychallengeandconsciouslyworktoeliminatebiasedlanguagefrom yourvocabulary.Afteryoustartwiththeninewordsabove,you’llbegintonoticehowmuch thislanguageisusedonadailybasis Allittakesispracticeandawarenesstohelplowerthe burdenofbiasonthewomenandyoungpeoplearoundyou Remember:Languagecreates actionandactionbecomesacceptedbehaviorandinformsorganizationalculture Your language,andyouractions,matter
What bias language do you notice the most? I’d like to hear from you all to gather even more perspective on the problem.
Let’sshareexperiences Leaveacommentbelow,sendmeanemail,orfindmeonTwitter