Over the past year, Google has been dealing with an accusation from the Department of Labor that its women employees are paid less than men. An investigation by the New York Times today, bolsters the U.S. Government’s claim with an analysis of pay data. Google has long denied the Labor Deparment claims and vehemently countered the Times today.
Following a proposal by Google earlier this year, the Unicode Technical Committee today approved a new set of emoji that aims to improve gender equality.
More than 90 percent of the world’s online population use emoji. But while there’s a huge range of emoji, there aren’t a lot that highlight the diversity of women’s careers, or empower young girls…. the emoji representing women aren’t exactly, well, representative. So we’ve been working to make things better.
As messaging becomes an increasingly more important part of our daily lives, so do the particular languages that we use to communicate on our digital platforms — and few “particular” things have become as influential as emojis.
However, up to this point, most of them have been designed with generally male-like physiognomies, and to address this issue, Google has proposed that Unicode add up to thirteen new emojis to the existing characters to “highlight the diversity of women’s careers”…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXxfhBbt3eY]
Google has worked with a gender equality campaign group to raise the profile of achievements by women in both its Field Trip app and future Google Doodles, reports TNW.
The campaign group SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance and Knowledge) pointed out to Google that its doodles featured women only 17% of the time, prompting the company to promise to do better in future and to add notable women from history to its Field Trip app.
Field Trip was first launched by Google back in 2012, as a background app that alerts you to interesting things around you as you travel. The original vintage UI was replaced by a Material Design refresh earlier this year. The app is also available on Google Glass.
If you want to take advantage of the new alerts, you need to check the Spark: Women on the Map option in the app. Field Trip so far features only 100 women, but anyone can nominate someone they feel should be included, suggesting that it may quickly grow.
Eric Schmidt spoke today on gender equality in the tech industry at SXSW along with United States Chief Technology Officer (and former Google exec) Megan Smith. During the panel, Schmidt was kind enough to chime in on a number of topics, such as which questions he thought Smith should answer, and his thoughts on the Raspberry Pi.
Schmidt’s frequent interruptions were highlighted by an attendee who questioned the executive on his behavior during the panel. Without responding to the woman’s concerns about cutting off Smith, Schmidt did agree that the lack of women in the industry is “a tragedy.”
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYRSrvetPMI]
A Google doodle appearing on the company’s homepage in some countries (though not yet the U.S.) celebrates tomorrow’s International Women’s Day, leading to a video when you click on it.
The video features brief clips of women from all around the world, in support of the United Nations theme that “Equality for Women is Progress for All.” The doodle is likely to appear on the U.S. site at some point today.
The full message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appears below.
This International Women’s Day, we are highlighting the importance of achieving equality for women and girls not simply because it is a matter of fairness and fundamental human rights, but because progress in so many other areas depends on it.
Countries with more gender equality have better economic growth. Companies with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on key social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination and child support.
The evidence is clear: equality for women means progress for all.
This simple truth must be central as we work to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by next year’s deadline and craft an agenda for the years beyond 2015.
Important gains have been made in access to primary education for girls and political representation by women. But progress remains far too slow and uneven.
A baby girl born today will still face inequality and discrimination, no matter where her mother lives. We have a common obligation to ensure her right to live free from the violence that affects one in three women globally; to earn equal pay for equal work; to be free of the discrimination that prevents her from participating in the economy; to have an equal say in the decisions that affect her life; and to decide if and when she will have children, and how many she will have.
I have a message for every girl born today, and to every woman and girl on the planet: Realizing human rights and equality is not a dream, it is a duty of governments, the United Nations and every human being.
I also have a message for my fellow men and boys: play your part. All of us benefit when women and girls – your mothers, sisters, friends and colleagues — can reach their full potential.Together, let us work for women’s rights, empowerment and gender equality as we strive to eliminate poverty and promote sustainable development. Equality for women is progress for all!
Via Mashable
