Women have been shattering the stereotype of traditional "women's work" for many years now, but Google's search results still don't reflect the change. According to a recent Pew study, women are underrepresented in Google image results for certain jobs and fields—ones that have historically been regarded as "men's work". This under-representation is extremely dangerous in that it reinforces occupational segregation and encourages unconscious biases.
KPMG Chief Diversity Officer Michele Meyer-Shipp believes that diversity and inclusion leaders can help to mitigate the problem and should be able to call out inaccurate or lacking representations. She says, "I will literally call someone in the marketing department and say 'Hey, that ad you put out? It's all guys.' We go with what we're used to. We've been programmed with these images and we have to break that mold. That's why it's so important to have someone who's got their eye on this, because they can help folks see it that may not know to even see it."
While we're at it, adding real pictures of women doing work in various professions (instead of outdated stock images) can have a huge impact on others' perceptions of work, especially the most impressionable of all of us—children. Research has shown that diverse representation affects children's perceptions of work and helps them determine which professions are welcoming to them. It's up to us to show our little future-shapers that they're represented in their dream jobs!
