Gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias, which occurs when one individual unconsciously attributes certain attitudes and

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

to another person or group of people.

Distinctions from sexism

Gender bias and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

are related but distinct concepts. Sexism is

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

based on sex, often favoring one sex over another. Gender bias is a broader term referring to any bias based on gender. It can affect anyone, including men, women, and those who don't conform to traditional gender norms. While sexism often involves overt

, gender bias can be subtle and unconscious, manifesting as stereotypes,

preferences In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

, and unequal treatment.

The surgeon riddle

A father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the dad. The son is rushed to the hospital; just as he's about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, "I can’t operate—that boy is my son!"

When faced with the surgeon riddle, many people unconsciously assume the

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

, even if they consciously hold

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

views; this illustrates implicit gender bias. This is distinct from explicit gender bias, which manifests when individuals consciously express prejudiced

beliefs A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

, such as preferring male doctors or openly endorsing sexism.

Gender bias in artificial intelligence

Gender bias in artificial intelligence refers to the circumstances in which AI systems reflect and perpetuate existing societal biases, leading to unfair or discriminatory results. These biases can manifest in various ways.

Gender bias in colors

Gender bias can manifest as a type of color bias that reinforces societal association of certain colors with specific genders, particularly pink with girls and blue with boys, which can perpetuate harmful

. This bias is a relatively modern construct.

References

{{reflist Gender equality Sexism