Reader's Digest

42 | July• 2018

BATTLING BIAS

clubs and neighbourhood associ-

ations – can go a long way to devel-

opingamoreequalsociety.One

youth-focused programme in the

UScalledAnytowndemonstrates

theimpactofdiscriminationbylet-

tingteenagestudentsseewhatit’s

liketohaveaphysicaldisabilityfor

aday–navigatingtheworldwitha

blindfoldorwearingmittenstolimit

the use of their hands. More broadly

school boards can incorporate a va-

rietyofculturalactivitiesintotheir

curriculum and ensure the parents’

committeehasanethnicmakeup

thatreflectsthestudentsitserves.

“Peopleinworkplacesarenowrec-

ognisingthatbiasisasystemicem-

bedded problem” Hirsh says. “hat’s

where there’s some hope for the fu-

ture.” Although she’s right that the

problem of prejudice isn’t necessarily

thestruggleofanindividualalone

each of us can nonetheless play a part

by addressing it in ourselves.

associate professor of sociolog y at the
University of British Columbia. Re-
viewing resumes with names omit-
tedlimitsgenderandracialbiasshe
suggests. And conducting interviews
asateam–themostbalancedgroup
possible – is crucial. “One committee

membercouldbetaskedwithwatch-
ingfordiversityandinclusion”Hirsh
suggests. She says this makes bring-
ingupthetopiclessawkward.
Applying similar strategies to
other institutions – schools private

“PEOPLE IN

WORKPLACES ARE

NOW RECOGNISING

THATBIASISA

SYSTEMIC EMBEDDED

PROBLEM” HIRSH SAYS

ONE JUMP AHEAD

It’s not hard to teach a dog to do tricks and sometimes

even a cat. But spiders? Scientists at the University of

Manchester recently trained a spider to jump on command

from one platform to another. They wanted to study the

mechanics of a spider to help engineers develop tiny

jumping micro-robots. Motivating regal jumping spiders

however was no easy task and only one of the spiders

• named Kim – really caught on to the idea of a take-of and
  landing platform.BOINGBOING.NET