Implicit bias.

The best way I can explain it is from an anecdote from my own experience. I am a scientist, and as a result consider myself to really be someone who thinks of things carefully weighing all the evidence, I would never have thought I had much if any implicit bias about anything.

I am a geneticist, and originally worked on model-system fly genetics, like many do. Later in my career, I switched fields to work on an organism that causes a disease that exists mostly in the developing world. Suddenly, my colleagues went from being 99.99% white to being at least 50% black and Latino -- because they were Africans and South Americans (though many of them had positions at American and European universities). When I started meeting them and hearing about their work, I found myself feeling a bit surprised that their research was as rigorous and innovative as that of the white dudes in my fly world. I was surprised how dedicated they were to good science and building good research plans.

I had never realized it, but I had just assumed that the reason that genetics was so white was because people of color somehow just didn't have "it." I can't really even say what this "it" was, but probably some sort of mixture of natural talent, good work ethic, and dedication to something abstract like science. I think I probably treated my black and Latino students differently during this time without even noticing it -- at the very least just not making that much of an investment in them because I assumed they just wouldn't make the cut. Not to mention having a different reaction from the beginning getting an email or resume from a LaQuita Jackson or a Carlos Mendez-Herrera as opposed to a Madison Wilson or a Jeremy Adams.

If, while a fly biologist, someone brought the idea up to me that I was judging people based on their race I would have said they were insane, I am very liberal in my politics and consider myself to be highly aware of the social issues of race, not to mention being a hyper-rational (or so I thought) scientist, as mentioned above. In fact, I bet I would have said that if a black student ever showed any real interest, they would get all sorts of special treatment and be promoted beyond their abilities. I would never have thought that maybe the reason those students didn't stay on in my lab or my field was because they didn't feel welcome and could sense that I (and many others) didn't believe in them or had patronizingly low expectations. Or maybe never even got in the door in the first place because of this issue. It was a real wake-up call.

These are the same things happen with women in all sorts of circumstances. In my own field, just the type of issue I am illustrating here with my anecdote has been supported with actual research. An article in PNAS, "Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students", illustrated the issue very well. Although this article speaks only to a specific type of case (hiring a recent college graduate for a gateway position in science), I do think it has broader implications to other circumstances and fields. And it certainly speaks to the idea of how one decision can have a cascading effect on someone's life or career. Reading the article filled me with "aha" moments about my own experiences, also with implicit bias against women, from both sides.

Although pitched for humor, I think the sketch of Jimmy Kimmel giving Hillary Clinton advice on how to be an effective political speaker is a good illustration of how this issue can affect women.

(EDIT: I should also add that I am actually married to a Latino scientist, and I am sure I would have pointed to that in my defense of having any bias.)