The Repercussions of Gender Bias in Data

WASHINGTON DC – Imagine trying to make a decision with only half the information. Today, nearly all organizations across the public and private sectors rely on data to make better decisions about everything from employee salaries to new legislation. Data provides decision makers insight into what the baseline is, where collective needs are, and where resources should be allocated. But half our world’s population—women—are underrepresented and many times completely unrepresented in these datasets.

Inaccurate data often results from gender bias in the design of surveys or questionnaires, or from someone other than the woman or girl responding to a survey on her behalf. Misrepresented or incomplete gender data collection yields results that misses the mark on understanding women’s needs or their economic and social contributions. Policies and initiatives around healthcare, education, economic opportunity and more are built based on what’s available—gender-biased data—and fail to fairly serve women and girls. How can we close the gender data gap and pursue the global ambition towards gender equality and a fuller understanding of the whole population?

Bloomberg, in partnership with Western Digital, interviewed Emily Courey Pryor, Executive Director of Data2X and Shaida Badiee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Open Data Watch to bring to light the issues and consequences of gender-biased data.

Watch the video below, and join the conversation with the hashtag #DataMakesPossible. For more information on what data makes possible, please visit www.DataMakesPossible.com.

Media Contact:
Shayla Gibson
Communications Director
Bloomberg Government
[email protected]
202-416-3026