Gender bias

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Gender bias or gender-related bias effect (from English gender "social gender", and bias "orientation, bias, tendency, prejudice") describes in scientific research a distortion of reality through formulations, conceptual assumptions or statistical errors that lead to false representations of the actual gender-specific relationships .

causes

Stereotypical role assignments

The attribution of gender stereotypes , the validity of which is not checked in individual cases, can lead to distortions . For example, differences in the observed frequency of mental illnesses (e.g. depression , ADHD ) in men and women are also attributed to stereotypical role assignments in diagnostics. For example, hyperactive behavior in girls might be perceived more as a strength, while the same behavior in boys might be perceived as a disorder.

In patriarchal societies the man is perceived uncritically as the norm in many non-mandatory contexts , which can lead to an androcentric and thus to a faulty approach.

Interference of gender characteristics

Statistical errors in the comparison of the sexes can arise from other gender-specific properties that have not been taken into account. For example, epidemiological data showing a higher proportion of depressive illnesses in women are also explained by the fact that women seek professional help more quickly with mental problems, while men tend to hide such problems. Similar biases due to a gender-specific statistical ceiling effect are discussed in relation to the different gender distribution of ADHD : The biological essential difference between men and women is not taken into account, so men more easily meet the diagnostic criteria of a "disorder". The unadjusted gender pay gap is also affected by a statistical error or gender bias in this sense.

Gender-related language

For reasons of culture, many languages ​​use the same formulations for statements about people and about men: The word “the reader” can be used both as a specific and as a generic masculine . In the latter case, readers are also included, in the case of a specific masculine not (compare gender- sensitive language ). A gender bias in German can therefore arise when a formulation intended as a generic masculine is interpreted by the reader or listener as a specific masculine. There are also terms with a gender-related conceptual history ( the blacksmith, the midwife). In many other languages ​​this problem is exacerbated by the fact that there is only one word for the two German words “Mensch” and “Mann”.

On the other hand, gender insensitivity can often even be positively intended as gender neutrality and ignore actual differences in the social or biological sexes. For example, the term “normal working hours” has a gender bias to hide the fact that it is not “normal” for the majority of women with children in cultures with traditional roles to work full-time.

Over-generalization

If results or statements about a gender are transferred to the general public, incorrect assumptions can be made. Generalizing the observation that a new drug was found to be effective in a sample of men would be negligent, since the same substance could be ineffective or even harmful in women.

See also

literature

  • Irmtraud Fischer: Gender-faire exegesis: Collected contributions to the reflection of gender bias and its effects in the translation and interpretation of biblical texts. Lit, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7244-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Girod , Magali Fassiotto a. a .: Reducing Implicit Gender Leadership Bias in Academic Medicine With an Educational Intervention. In: Academic Medicine. Volume 91, number 8, August 2016, pp. 1143–1150, here p. ?? (English; doi: 10.1097 / ACM.0000000000001099 ).
  2. ↑ Message: Depression: women get sick far more often than men. In: Thieme magazine . 2013, accessed October 26, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Chapter 2: How Are Men? In: Robert Koch Institute (ed.): Health situation of men in Germany. Contributions to federal health reporting. Königsdruck, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-89606-224-6 , pp. 12–97, here p. 66 ( PDF: 2.3 MB, 86 pages on rki.de ); Quote: "Afterwards, boys are recommended more often a diagnostic work-up with regard to ADHD."
  4. ↑ Claudia Finke: Differences in earnings between men and women: A cause analysis based on the 2006 earnings structure survey. Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden January 2011, pp. 36–48, here p. 45 ( PDF: 1.9 MB, 161 pages on destatis.de ) .
  5. ↑ Gertraude Krell, Renate Ortlieb, Barbara Sieben (eds.): Equal opportunities through personnel policy. Equality between women and men in companies and administrations . 6th, completely revised and expanded edition. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-8349-6838-8 , pp. 332 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ↑ Walter Joachimiak: Women's earnings - men's earnings: How big is the gap really? ( Memento from July 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden March 19, 2013, accessed on October 26, 2019.
  7. ↑ Wendy Martyna: Beyond the “He / Man” Approach: The Case for Nonsexist Language. In: Signs. Volume 5, No. 3, 1980, pp. 482-493 (English; doi: 10.1086 / 493733 ).
  8. ↑ Mykol C. Hamilton: Using masculine generics: Does generic he increase male bias in the user's imagery? In: Sex Roles. Volume 19, No. 11/12, 1988, pp. 785-799 (English; doi: 10.1007 / BF00288993 ).
  9. ↑ Allyson Jule: A Beginner's Guide to Language and Gender. Multilingual Matters, Buffalo NY 2008, ISBN 978-1-84769-056-2 , p. 13 (English; reading sample in the Google book search).
  10. ↑ Brigitte Sellach, Uta Enders-Dragässer u. a .: Knowledge network: Gender mainstreaming for the federal administration. Society for Women's Research in Social Sciences V., Frankfurt am Main / Berlin December 2003, p. ?? ( PDF: 438 kB, 172 pages on dr-mara-kuhl.de ).