The leading global nonprofit focused on creating workplaces that work for women, Catalyst, has launched a bold campaign to tackle one of the biggest gender equality issues in the workplace: unconscious gender bias.

"Women and men with the same talents and skills are often described in very different ways due to unconscious gender bias, creating invisible barriers that can have an enormous impact on women's advancement," said Lorraine Hariton, President and CEO of Catalyst. 

Founded in 1962, Catalyst works with some of the world's most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women. Catalyst drives change with pioneering research, practical tools, and proven solutions to accelerate and advance women into leadership - because progress for women is progress for everyone.

The new campaign, which features women from diverse industries, aims to shine a light on the power of words used to describe women and encourage people to #BiasCorrect by paying more attention to theirs.

Catalyst partnered with NYC-based brand transformation company Burns Group to bring its leading research to life with a creative idea to drive both action and awareness. The multifaceted campaign developed by Burns Group incorporates chat platforms, social media, digital assets, and outdoor placements.

Online resources include #BiasCorrect Plug-in

Catalyst also provides a range of resources to help people overcome their own unconscious biases on its International Women’s Day #BiasCorrect webpage, which includes videos, customizable social media posts for download, and information on how individuals and companies can combat unconscious bias, such as the soon-to-be released Catalyst Inclusion Accelerator, a leading-edge diagnostic tool designed to evaluate and monitor how employees are experiencing inclusion.

Among the tools offered in the campaign is the first-ever #BiasCorrect Plug-in to tag unconscious bias in real-time conversations on work-based chat platforms such as Slack. The plug-in identifies words that create harmful gender stereotypes and suggests alternative language. For instance, if a woman is described as "aggressive," the app suggests correcting the sentiment to "assertive." 

Eskalera, the company that developed the technology for the plug-in, is making the software available via open source code in an effort to spread the message and encourage change across every chat platform.

"When the Catalyst team approached Eskalera to support this initiative we could not have been more thrilled," said Tom Chavez, CEO of Eskalera. "This development amplifies Catalyst's important gender equity research by providing a tool that detects potentially gender-biased statements as they occur and suggests alternatives to unintentionally hurtful or demeaning language."

"To reduce the gender gap in leadership, we must break down the invisible barriers that keep women from advancing," added Ms. Hariton. "Inclusive leaders and managers must learn to interrupt bias to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce, including improved business performance, increased employee engagement, and greater innovation to remain competitive in the future. Let's act now to create workplaces that work for women."

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