The name: another form of discrimination against women

Einstein against Marie Curie. Nadal against Mireia or Mireia Belmonte. Trump vs. Hillary or Hillary Clinton … There is a widespread tendency to refer to men only by name, but not women, and that "tradition" or hidden bias can be a discriminating factor. gender inequality in many professions. Be behind women's disability at the highest level.

A survey of psychologists Stav Atir and Melissa Ferguson, of Cornell University (USA), recently published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), verified this model and the 39, sized with some figures. For example, after reviewing nearly 5,000 articles in biology, history, psychology, computer science, and economics in fourteen US universities, researchers found that male teachers are 56% more likely than female teachers to refer to them.

After reviewing the transcripts of more than 300 radio broadcasts, they concluded that there is a 126% chance to mention an expert by the last name when talking about men rather than women

. A third study showed that participants were 74% more likely to use the last name when they were talking about famous men like Joe Biden and Carl Sagan than famous women like Jane Austen or Marie Curie. .

184 people the same basic information about the chemistry work of the hypothetical Dolores Berson and Douglas Berson and asked them to rewrite it in complete sentences. And they discovered that volunteers and volunteers used four times more "Berson" when they referred to the man

In total, Atir and Ferguson conducted eight studies, in fields as diverse as science, literature or politics, and that they combined archival methods and experimental methods, and found that on average, people were more than twice as likely to use names. family to designate male professionals as professional women.

Cornell University found that this difference when it comes to naming or referring to a professional affects the judgments of the eminence, the evaluation of careers. "We have evidence that a professional who is mentioned by the surname is considered more famous and eminent than the one who is quoted with his full name," says Atir.

Details that participants in their experiences consider that professionals cited by the surname are more famous and prominent, of higher status, and more deserve rewards and benefits related to their professional ability.

In their final experience, they asked more than 500 people (men and women) to qualify. Scientists, some of whom were mentioned by their full name and others only by their surname, should receive a $ 500,000 prize from the National Science Foundation. The result was that those presented by the surname were considered worthy of 14% more than a career award.

Atir points out that these findings suggest that when women are mentioned by their full name with the intention of helping them to have recognition, seeking to emphasize that they are professional women, actually helps to consider them less eminent.

This badist bias in speaking of male and female professionals "may explain in part the persistent under-representation of women in," explain the researchers in the work published in PNAS.

"The family name is the letter of Introduction into the public space, while the name we use in the private, family or domestic environment, and women, who for years have been mostly related in the private sphere, when they move in the public space, they hang out the name, their name, but using the name of your personal sphere is a lack of respect, since the last name identifies us, gives a more credibility and strength, "says the director of the Master's Degree in Gender and Communication at the UAB

and rejects the arguments of those who justify that women are quoted by the full name precisely to make visible their female condition. "Why should we take for granted that behind a surname there is a man and not a woman? By habit? At a time when women have an important public presence, this justification no longer works, because if we give them visibility, they will know that they are women even if they only mention their last name, "he says.

Source: The Vanguardia [ad_2]
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