Watch Your Mouth: Decoding The Language Of
Unconscious Bias At Work
/ Equity
Oh Boy, Here She Goes Again
How many times have you been in a mixed gender group and the leader says something like:
“Ok, you guys. It’s time to get down to work.”
“Oh, man, this is going to be a challenge.”
“Oh brother, I can’t believe this just happened in that meeting.”
Man, guys, brother. Notice a theme? I do, and it drives me crazy.
Now, I know that in these cases, traditionally male pronouns were used to represent all
members of a group, regardless of gender. The speaker had no intention of offending
anyone.
However, “traditional” is tricky. One could argue that traditionally, women didn’t have a real
voice in business anyway, or that traditionally, men were the breadwinners*. The problem is
that “traditions” are safe-havens where unconscious bias thrives. And actions follow words.
So if we want to change organizational behavior and actions, we need to change
organizational language.
Everyone Knows It’s Just An Expression
Here’s what often happens when I bring up this topic:
“What’s the harm in saying ‘you guys’ at a team meeting? Everyone knows it’s just an
expression.”
Maybe you’re thinking that exact thing right now.
The harm is, in this case, this type of language starts to create (or feed) a belief that male
teams are better. Or worse, that women don’t even belong in a team and that a team isn’t
even a legitimate team unless it’s a team of men. These words then filter into our
subconscious and become accepted norms.
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Language like this forms the building blocks for second-generation gender bias, which are
“practices that may appear neutral or non-sexist, in that they apply to everyone, but which
discriminate against women because they reflect the values of the men who created or
developed the setting, usually a workplace**.” These biases create behaviors, both of which
are often unconscious, and are responsible for many of the challenge’s women face in the
workplace. Be honest, how often do you assume the CEO of a company is a male? It’s not
only men that are guilty of this; women are guilty too.
When the “New Kid” Isn’t a Kid at All
In the workplace, biased language moves beyond gender. I hear bias in language all the time
about Millennials (Generation Y), those born between 1981-2001:
“I just hired the new kid.”
“Oh really? You hired a teenager?”
“No, I hired someone who just graduated from college.”
“Then you hired a college graduate or young person.”
I even saw generational bias in a recent article: “…many kids admitted into top schools are
emotional wrecks.” If this is the language, we use to describe young people, then our words
subconsciously allow us to treat them like children, which partly explains why Gen Y feels
like no one takes them seriously. Is this really how we want to treat the second biggest
generation, who happens to have the most educated people in its cohort?
Here’s My Question
Here’s my question: Are leaders giving enough thought to the language they use on a day-to-
day basis? I’m not talking about truly offensive language such as N****er or other ethnic
slurs. I’m talking about subtle language that we all say without thinking, the type of language
that comes from — and worse, reinforces— unconscious, biased behavior.
Surprise Offender: The Oxford Dictionary
Trust me; I know how difficult it is to change language that we’ve been using for decades.
Even Oxford is guilty of it. Check out the example sentences on the following definitions
pulled from Oxford Dictionary***:

I think these examples speak for themselves!
Here’s My Challenge For You
Here’s my challenge: I want organizational leaders to slash biased language from their
vocabularies starting now. Below is a list of words that I commonly hear leaders use, along
with non-biased alternative terms. Let’s all make a commitment together to eliminate these
basic biased words from our vocabulary today. It will take practice to make the habit stick,
yet it will make a huge difference in organizational inclusiveness.
Stop Saying These Nine Biased Words Today
I admit that I still struggle with using unconscious biased language often, especially when
I’m tired. Just yesterday I said in a mixed-gender workshop, “Now that you guys get the
point, it’s time to move to the next section.” I then had to stop myself and back track by
saying, “Now that you all understand the point…”. People laughed at me when I did it; some
even said, “Don’t worry about it. We know what you mean.” Yet there was a young woman
who thanked me afterwards for changing my language; “It made me feel more included,” she
said.
I hope you accept my challenge and consciously work to eliminate biased language from
your vocabulary. After you start with the nine words above, you’ll begin to notice how much
this language is used on a daily basis. All it takes is practice and awareness to help lower the
burden of bias on the women and young people around you. Remember: Language creates
action and action becomes accepted behavior and informs organizational culture. Your
language, and your actions, matter.
What bias language do you notice the most? I’d like to hear from you all to gather even more
perspective on the problem.
Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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