"Gender Equality by Design" by Iris Bohnet is a book that explores how design thinking can be used to promote gender equality in various domains, including workplaces, education, and public policies. The author argues that many of the persistent gender gaps are the result of implicit biases and stereotypes that are ingrained in the design of our social institutions and systems. By applying principles of behavioural science and human-centred design, Bohnet suggests practical strategies and tools that can help reduce these biases and create more inclusive environments. The book is based on extensive research and case studies and offers actionable insights for individuals, organisations, and policymakers who are interested in promoting gender equality.
The Checkerboard Analogy
Take a look at the below checkerboard, squares A and B are different colours, right?
Now what if I covered everything around the squares?
I know, mind = blown, go on and look over it again. When you first saw the checkerboard, your mind made sense of the pattern. After every light square, there's a dark square and even though there's a shadow cast over square B it should still be a light square because, after every light square, there's a dark square. You probably didn't even think all that, in fact, your mind made immediate sense of the pattern it saw and almost unconsciously presumed that square b was lighter. (The below image was the exact reaction I had after watching this analogy)
This was the analogy that Irdis Bohnet used in some of her conferences and talks. It blew my mind because it fuels a new way of thinking. To successfully interpret design into supporting gender equality we need to think about what kind of patterns are there in the world which keep us from seeing square b for what it really is.
This brings us full circle within this blog series. What patterns throughout history deemed women unsuitable designers and engineers, why the Diet and Zero Coke advertisements were designed to different genders, why engineering textbooks make me feel like an outsider and many many more situations discussed throughout these past three months. It all comes down to patterns set by marketing companies, designers and social constructs.
American Orchestras in 1970's
As a counterpart to the checkerboard analogy, Bohnet uses the example of blind auditions with American orchestras in the 1970s. As we have discussed previously (check out the related posts at the end of this blog), there have been multiple prejudices against women performing 'male' tasks. Albeit the shift of female capabilities in manufacturing and design post WWI, in music, women were often seen as inferior musicians and were believed to lack the strength and endurance necessary to play certain instruments. In addition, many people believed that women's delicate constitutions made them unsuited to the rigorous demands of a career in music.
In the 1970s, orchestras started to hold blind auditions where they would often use screens or curtains during auditions to hide the gender of the musician. This social experiment raised the percentage of female musicians in these orchestras from 5% to 57%. The judged skill not gender. Yet again. there was a pattern of seeing women as too delicate to be able to be skilled musicians, through the design of bringing down the curtain and covering that pattern, we slowly overcame the inequality.
Is Terminology Blocking Square B?
When I say the word teacher and you look into the black screen below, who do you picture? Is it maybe a teacher from your school years? Are they male? Are they female?
When asked to do this task, most people would picture a teacher they were inspired by. An interesting link Bohnet made during her Google talk is the inequality of employment among male teachers. Only 5-10% of teachers in America are male. What does this cause? Bohent states that in recent reports from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), the lack of male role models as teachers are why boys around the world are falling behind in school, in particular reading and writing. What can we do?
Take a look at this advertisement for a teaching position from a school which wanted to increase their proportion of male teachers.
The highlighted adjectives used at the top section are gendered. They are typically associated with women. Through no surprise, Bohnet explains how the research shows that that decreases the likelihood for men to apply for the job. When rephrasing to the below statement in the image, we are consciously understanding what messages we are sending by opening the position to an unconsciously minded non-gendered role.
The Relevance To Coca-Cola's Diet and Zero Drink
This got me thinking, Coca-Cola did its research (see blog 'Team Diet or Team Zero?'). They analysed and understood their market with the terminologies used. Okay, initially they created a gender gap by making one Coke for the female and another for the male gender. In recent times I have seen coke zero ads like the one below. Perhaps Coca-Cola reanalysed its impact and closed the visual terminology gap, allowing them to sit back and know they have a product which sells for those two genders but will not create a bigger gap by encouraging a separation of their products as 'pink' and 'blue' toys.
My Thoughts
This has given me the opportunity in my future designs to further consider who is my target audience, what are their preconceived ways of thinking about the product I'm designing and how can I eliminate gender-biased prejudice within it. Similar to the design of the hotel room card. People were not switching off their lights and wasting energy in hotels, so a redesign was put in place which ensured that the guests' lights are powered by their room keys. This design intervention made it easier for our minds to get things right, it lead us towards the correct direction of energy saving without even realising it. Applying this new way of thinking will allow me to hopefully set new norms within my future products, just as Cas Holman did with her gender-neutral toy designs (see blog post 'Cas Holman - The Great Designer').
Idris Bohnet's analogies and philosophies have truly intrigued me. What if all designs followed the rule of eliminating preconceived patterns? What kind of world would we create? What would be the new 'norms'? Would they be better or worse for our society? All in all, it shows the power of design and how it influences us and our thinking every single day.
My Personal Challenge
I want to tackle my unconscious bias and try to change the preconceived association I have in my head about the word engineer. I believe that this may open a new door with new ideas and inspirations for more inclusive designs in the future. As I have learnt from my extensive research on this project, seeing is believing. As much as I appreciate the works of many brilliant male engineers, I think it's time for me to focus on brilliant female engineers. I do find myself referring to engineers as 'he' in my head, let's change that to a 'them'. To do this I am very excited to start reading 'Ingenious Women: From Tincture of Saffron to Flying Machines, throughout the course of this summer. I am intrigued to see if I surround and educate myself more on female engineers throughout history, can I personally get rid of the bias which was unconsciously formed for me?
So why this book? I accidentally came across it when searching for a link to invisible women to add to my blog ('Invisible Women' blog post tagged below). The extract was quite a 'wow what?! I mean of course! Why didn't I think of that!'
The Extract
Years ago, when I was studying anthropology at university, one of my female professors held up a photograph of an antler bone with 28 markings on it. "This," she said, "is alleged to be man's first attempt at a calendar." We all looked at the bone in admiration. "Tell me," she continued, "what man needs to know when 28 days have passed? I suspect that this is woman's first attempt at a calendar."
Useful Links
What Works; Gender Equality by Design, Idris Bohnet:
Idris Bohnet Google Talk:
Idris Bohent SXSW Talk:
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