A new study reveals that Google image search highlights the challenges women face in corporate America.
Apparently, the most comprehensive image searched on Google Images has a noticeable gender bias in the results for some specific jobs. While neither all CEOs are men nor all nurses are women, Google Images seems to think otherwise.
According to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Maryland, the search service owned by Google shows a prominent gender bias in the graphic lookup's final results for some jobs.
As a matter of fact, the held-down portrayal of women in image search results influences people's ideas about professional gender ratios in the real world, the study reportedly found.
For example, when the keyword "CEO" is searched in Google images, the result comes up with all men (especially white men), HuffingtonPost noted. Although they are a minority, there are some CEOs who are women and who are not white.
In fact, PC World noted searching the site for "CEO" revealed just one female face in the top results: CEO Barbie. The doll, which may not even be a real Barbie product, appears way down in the results, under an ocean of mostly white men.
That said, it may not really be the fault of Google citing its algorithms in numerous ways to mirror the universal culture. Most of the top images labeled CEO at popular sites apparently are men.
Moreover, The Verge noted earlier that the search engine giant is not alone in its results. Searches for "CEO" on Bing and the service offers to refine your search to "women CEO," using the same picture of Barbie. Nevertheless, lowered down, Bing shows an image of Angela Ahrendts, former Burberry CEO.
According to the results of a study published by researchers at the University of Washington, for the aforementioned Google search, 11 percent of the faces illustrated in the top 100 results are women, but 27 percent of U.S. CEOs are female. The results offer a quick look into a male-dominated corporate culture.
However, it works the other way, as well.
Do a Google Images search for "telemarketers," for example, and the top results are reportedly dominated by women, although that occupation is split evenly between men and women, the researchers said.
No doubt, the gender imbalance on Google is a lot worse than in real life, but the results are not inconsequential. They reportedly influence how people view the real world.
