Study: Google Images lists Barbie as top female CEO
T he first picture of a woman on Google Images for the search term 'CEO' is one of Barbie in a suit . The finding was one of many made (pdf) by University of Washington and University of Maryland researchers that showed many image searches for specific occupations automatically favour men or women, thereby highlighting 'stereotype exaggeration and systematic underrepresentation of women in search results'. I ronically, the image linked to an article in satirical news site The Onion that cri ticised US toy manufacturer Mattel for encouraging 'young girls to set impractical career goals'. System 🤖 Google Images 🔗 Operator: Alphabet/Google Developer: Alphabet/Google Country: USA Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Rank search results Technology: Search engine algorithm; Machine learning Issue: Bias/discrimination - gender
- Date it happened
- 2015-04-01
- Organisation involved
- Product, system or model
- Google Images
This incident was imported from AIAAIC and is used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.