Unconscious gender bias remains a significant barrier to women’s career advancement. It is also difficult to identify and prevent. In this talk, Ulrike speaks with her guest, Selvi Supuriamaniam, an HR leader focussing on women leadership, about the different shades of bias and how to thrive anyway.
Bias happens on two different levels. One level is the bias from the outside when someone else is taking decisions or actions regarding ourselves and when these actions are influenced - consciously or unconsciously - by our gender, skin color or other reasons.
This external bias can be mitigated by better communication, an open approach to the topic, and by building alliances with other people to bring the topic to the table.
Another bias that might have an even more significant influence on our life and career is our own internal bias. Even though we believe that we see the “reality”, we are all having an interpretation of facts and incidents that are biased by our upbringing and beliefs. Understanding our own bias is therefore most helpful to overcome the inner obstacles that these create and to empower ourselves to seize the opportunities that life offers us.
About Selvi Supuriamaniam:
Selvi is an HR leader with high enthusiasm for Diversity and Inclusion focusing on women in leadership. She has played various roles in HR for the past 15 years in both being a business partner and specialist. She is currently based in Dubai with her family.
Outline of the Episode:
[01:41] What is bias?
[06:55] What to do to detect a bias?
[10:38] Overcoming bias as a woman in the corporate world
[14:03] Initiating top-down change by speaking up
[17:42] Stopping bias starting with and within ourselves
[21:40] Having a sounding board to encourage your growth
More about Selvi Supuriamaniam:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selvi-supuriamaniam-b4882325/
Connect with Ulrike!
Website: www.empoweringfemaleleaders.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/empowering-female-leaders/
Email: contact@ulrikeseminati.com