UBS Center Newsletter | N°12, January 2019

9 Fairness and equality are values that Mara Harvey (left) and Jacqueline Fehr both have stood for in their careers. financial industry with gender, Harvey revealed that the origin of inequality starts as early as in childhood. Indeed, new research shows that the gender pay gap starts already with pocket money. For Harvey, this demonstrates that equal opportunities are a question of fairness. Fairness and equality are also values that Jacqueline Fehr has stood – and fought – for in her political career. For her, biases and stereotypes are the main counterforces that we need to address to reach equal opportunities. Clearly, there is a need for more female role models. As long as there is only a handful of women in any organization or institution, they stand out as exceptions. Bohnet quantified this: she consid- ers a threshold of 30 percent women to be a critical mass; if there are fewer than 30 percent, individuals will not be considered as a representative group but only as exceptions. Therefore, role models must exist in a certain quantity, concluded Fehr. Gabriele Siegert illustrated the discussion with several examples on how bias and stereotypes work in aca- demia. She made it clear: everybody is biased, men and women. Humans generally overestimate them- selves and are reluctant to admit being biased. But research shows that many decisions are based on a personal bias and not on quantifiable performance. DIALOGUE & EVENTS How to design equal opportunities, when everybody is biased. “Diversity is important to re- write the social script and to free ourselves from stereo- types.” Jacqueline Fehr “Gender equality is a social issue, not a women issue.” Gabriele Siegert ARE YOU BIASED? Test yourself for hidden bias with Implicit As- sociation Tests (IATs) by Project Implicit. They measure unconscious, or automatic, biases. Your willingness to examine your own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society. www.tolerance.org/professional-development/ test-yourself-for-hidden-bias Bohnet provided an example from hiring processes: Research shows that as soon as a CV permits to derive a candidate’s gender (e.g. based on the name or a photo, as it is still common in Switzerland), the selection criteria for CVs becomes strongly biased. This example shows that even small changes can make a difference. This is also true for micro sponsor- ing – a tool, but also an attitude, introduced by Iris Bohnet, reflected in small acts of support provided day to day to each other. Why not support a minority in a discussion, challenge someone’s opinion, or start with yourself: scrutinize your first impression and be aware of biases. PS. Back to the numbers, with which we started this contribution: we know, they are not great, but they have improved and we continue to work on them.