Major

Computer Science

Research Abstract

Implicit gender bias has costly and complex consequences for women in the workplace. We present an online desktop virtual environment that follows the story of a male or female self-avatar from the first-person perspective, who either experiences a positive or negative workplace scenario. Participants who experienced negative workplace experiences with a female self-avatar had significantly decreased levels of implicit gender bias compared to those who had a male self-avatar with evidence of perspective taking. Experiences of a positive workplace scenario showed no significant decreases in implicit gender bias regardless of self-avatar gender. We discuss the implications of these findings and make recommendations for virtual environment technologies and scenarios with respect to the reduction of implicit biases.

Faculty Mentor/Advisor

Beste Yuksel

Available for download on Sunday, January 01, 2040

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May 7th, 12:00 AM May 10th, 12:00 AM

Reducing Implicit Gender Bias Using a Virtual Workplace Environment

Implicit gender bias has costly and complex consequences for women in the workplace. We present an online desktop virtual environment that follows the story of a male or female self-avatar from the first-person perspective, who either experiences a positive or negative workplace scenario. Participants who experienced negative workplace experiences with a female self-avatar had significantly decreased levels of implicit gender bias compared to those who had a male self-avatar with evidence of perspective taking. Experiences of a positive workplace scenario showed no significant decreases in implicit gender bias regardless of self-avatar gender. We discuss the implications of these findings and make recommendations for virtual environment technologies and scenarios with respect to the reduction of implicit biases.