At the recent Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, a local CEO got himself into hot water, implying the women in attendance were only there to ogle baseball great Alex Rodriguez.
He later apologized for making a “bad joke.” Yet, many in attendance felt his apology missed the mark entirely. And many felt that asking women to stand and applaud for A-Rod, like participants in a bachelor auction, demeaned all parties. I tend to agree. One can debate whether his motives were clueless or malicious, but one thing is clear: This incident reveals that many men (and women, too) are operating with unconscious bias towards women in the workplace.