Matthew Kay
Cynthia Matuszek
Sean A. Munson
ABSTRACT
Information environments have the power to affect people's perceptions and behaviors. In this paper, we present the results of studies in which we characterize the gender bias present in image search results for a variety of occupations. We experimentally evaluate the effects of bias in image search results on the images people choose to represent those careers and on people's perceptions of the prevalence of men and women in each occupation. We find evidence for both stereotype exaggeration and systematic underrepresentation of women in search results. We also find that people rate search results higher when they are consistent with stereotypes for a career, and shifting the representation of gender in image search results can shift people's perceptions about real-world distributions. We also discuss tensions between desires for high-quality results and broader societal goals for equality of representation in this space.
- Arigbabu OA; Ahmad SMS, Adnan WAN, Yussof S, Iranmanesh V, Malallah, FL, Gender recognition on real world faces based on shape representation and neural network. ICCOINS 2014.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Baker P, Potts A. "Why do white people have thin lips?" Google and the perpetuation of stereotypes via autocomplete search forms. Crit Disc St 10(2): 187--204.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Behm-Morawitz E, Mastro D. The Effects of the Sexualization of Female Video Game Characters on Gender Stereotyping and Female Self-Concept. Sex Roles 2009; 61(11--12): 808--823.Google Scholar
- Bodenhausen GV, Wyer RS. Effects of stereotypes in decision making and information-processing strategies. J Pers Soc Psychol 1985; 48(2): 267.Google Scholar
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Section 11. 5 February 2013. http://www.bls.gov/cps/aa2012/cpsaat11.htm.Google Scholar
- Coltrane S, Adams M. Work-family imagery and gender stereotypes: Television and the reproduction of difference. J Vocat Behav 1997; 50(2): 323--347.Google Scholar
- Correll SJ. Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self-assessments. Am J Sociol 2001; 106(6): 1691--1730.Google Scholar
- Correll SJ. Constraints into preferences: Gender, status, and emerging career aspirations. Am Sociol Rev 2004; 69(1): 93--113.Google Scholar
- Executive Office of the President. Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values. May 2014.Google Scholar
- Friedman B, Nissenbaum H. Bias in computer systems. ACM T Inform Syst 1996; 14(3): 330--347. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gerbner G, Gross L, Morgan M, Signorielli N. Living with television: The dynamics of the cultivation process. Perspectives on media effects 1986: 17--40.Google Scholar
- Graves SB. Television and Prejudice Reduction: When Does Television as a Vicarious Experience Make a Difference? J Soc Issues 1999; 55(4): 707--727.Google Scholar
- Grossman P. New Partnership with LeanIn.org. InFocus by Getty Images. http://infocus.gettyimages.com/post/ new-partnership-with-leaninorg.Google Scholar
- Halpert JA, Wilson ML, Hickman JL. Pregnancy as a source of bias in performance appraisals. J Organ Behav 1993.Google Scholar
- Haslam SA, Turner JC, Oakes PJ, Reynolds KJ, Doosje, B From personal pictures in the head to collective tools in the word: how shared stereotypes allow groups to represent and change social reality. In C McGarty, VY Yzerbyt, R Spears (eds.). Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups 2002. Cambridge University Press, 157--185.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Heilman ME. Description and prescription: How gender stereotypes prevent women's ascent up the organizational ladder. J Soc Issues 2001; 57(4): 657--674.Google Scholar
- Heilman ME. Okimoto, TG. 2008. Motherhood: A potential source of bias in employment decisions. J Appl Psychol 2008; 93(1): 189--198.Google Scholar
- Hilton JL, & Von Hippel W. Stereotypes. Annu Rev Psychol 1996; 47(1): 237--271.Google Scholar
- Hooper B. Porn star appears on cover of Thai math textbook. United Press International. http://upi.com/5031410787947Google Scholar
- Introna L, Nissenbaum H. Defining the web: The politics of search engines. Computer 2000; 33(1): 54--62. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Jacobs J. Gender Inequality at Work. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 1995.Google Scholar
- Kammerer,Y, Gerjets P. How search engine users evaluate and select Web search results: The impact of the search engine interface on credibility assessments. Libr Inform Sci 2012; 4: 251--279.Google Scholar
- Keane MT, O'Brien M, Smyth B. Are people biased in their use of search engines? Commun ACM 2008; 51(2): 49--52. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Khorsandi R, Abdel-Mottaleb M. Gender classification using 2-D ear images and sparse representation. 2013 IEEE Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV), 461--466. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Lean In Foundation. Getty Image Collection. http://leanin.org/getty.Google Scholar
- Makinen E, Raisamo R. Evaluation of Gender Classification Methods with Automatically Detected and Aligned Faces, IEEE T Pattern Anal 2008; 30(3): 541--547. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Massey D. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007.Google Scholar
- Miller CC. 10 February 2014. LeanIn.org and Getty Aim to Change Women's Portrayal in Stock Photos. New York Times, B3. http://nyti.ms/1eLY7ijGoogle Scholar
- Pariser E. The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. 2011. Penguin Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Potter WJ. Cultivation theory and research, Hum Commun Res 1993; 19(4): 564--601.Google Scholar
- Shan C. Learning local binary patterns for gender classification on real-world face images, Pattern Recogn Lett 2012; 33(4), 431--437. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Shrum LJ. Assessing the Social Influence of Television A Social Cognition Perspective on Cultivation Effects. Commun Res 1995; 22(4): 402--429.Google Scholar
- Spencer SJ, Steele CM, Quinn DM. Stereotype threat and women's math performance. J Exp Soc Psychol 1999; 35(1): 4--28.Google Scholar
- Snyder M, Tanke ED, Berscheid E. Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. J Pers Soc Psychol 1977; 35(9): 656--666.Google Scholar
- Sweeney L. Discrimination in online ad delivery. Commun ACM 2013; 56(5): 44--54. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Tajfel H. Social stereotypes and social groups. In Turner JC, Giles H. Intergroup Behaviour 1981. Oxford: Blackwell. 144--167.Google Scholar
- Vaughan L, Thelwall M. Search engine coverage bias: evidence and possible causes. Inform Process Manag 2004; 40(4): 693--707. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Williams D. Virtual Cultivation: Online Worlds, Offline Perceptions. J Commun 1996; 56(1): 69--87.Google Scholar
- Word CO, Zanna MP, Cooper J. The nonverbal mediation of self-fulfilling prophecies in interracial interaction. J Exp Soc Psychol 1974; 10(2): 109--120.Google Scholar
- X Tang, K Liu, J Cui, F Wen, X Wang. IntentSearch: Capturing User Intention for One-Click Internet Image Search, IEEE T Pattern Anal 34(7): 1342--1353. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Zha ZJ, Yang L, Mei T, Wang M, Wang Z, Chua TS, Hua XS. 2010. Visual query suggestion: Towards capturing user intent in internet image search. ACM T Multim Comput 2010; 6(3): a13. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Unequal Representation and Gender Stereotypes in Image Search Results for Occupations
Recommendations
The Influence of Gender-Ethnic Intersectionality on Gender Stereotypes about IT Skills and Knowledge
One line of investigation in attempting to better understand the gender imbalance in the information technology (IT) field is to examine gender stereotypes about the skills and knowledge in the IT profession. A survey of 4046 university students in the ...
Children’s Implicit and Explicit Stereotypes on the Gender, Social Skills, and Interests of a Computer Scientist
ICER 2021: Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education ResearchMotivation Only 27% of computer and mathematical scientists in the United States and 18% of IT specialists in Europe are women. The under-representation of women in the field of Computer Science is, among other things, influenced by stereotypes of ...
Understanding underrepresentation in IT through intersectionality
iConference '12: Proceedings of the 2012 iConferenceResults of an investigation of the effect of intersectionality on perceptions of university students about IT careers are presented. This analysis deepens the discussion began at the 2011 iConference by presenting an examination of responses of African ...
Comments