But recruitment is an issue in other fields, including STEM fields, because we tend to correlate engineering and science with men. The solutions is to recognize a full range of human characteristics in everyone and refrain from penalizing women and men who violate gender norms. It is clear that implicit bias causes us to assess people differently based on gender. We need to actively expand our understanding of gender so qualities like ambition, drive and leadership are recognized as implicitly female. Companies can accomplish this in many ways, including training leaders on issues of bias and reviewing policies and practices that inadvertently favor one gender.

Source: Forbes January 17, 2017 20:32 UTC