Astronomy Talk

We all have biases, and we are (for the most part) unaware of them. In

general, men and women BOTH unconsciously devalue the contributions of

women. This can have a detrimental effect on grant proposals, job

applications, and performance reviews. Sociology is way ahead of astronomy

in these studies. When evaluating identical application packages, for

example, male and female University psychology professors preferred 2:1 to

hire "Brian" over "Karen" as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more

experienced record, at the point of promotion to tenure, reservations were

expressed four times more often about Karen than about Brian. This

unconscious bias has a repeated negative effect on Karen's career

(Steinpreis, Anders & Ritzke 1999, Sex Roles, 41, 509). In this talk, I

will introduce the concept of unconscious bias and also give

recommendations on how to address it using an example for a faculty search

committee. The process of eliminating unconscious bias begins with

awareness, then moves to policy and practice, and ends with accountability.

For more information, please see the University of Michigan Advance STRIDE

web site (http://sitemaker.umich.edu/**advance/stride<http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/stride>