Report on the Online-Event “How Can VR Promote Awareness of Unconscious Bias?: About a Workshop Project Considering the Work Environment Surrounding Child-Rearing”

Atsuko Sano (Project Researcher of the B’AI Global Forum)

・Date: Thursday, March 3, 2022, 13:00-15:00 (JST)
・Venue: Online (Zoom Webinar)
・Language: Japanese
・Speakers (in order of appearance)
　 ◦Kaoru Chujo (Visiting Researcher of the Institute for Future Initiatives at the University of Tokyo / President and CEO, SoW Insight, Inc.)
　◦Yuji Hatada (PhD Student, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)
　◦Ryu Kudoh (Master’s Student, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)
　◦Mayu Oba (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan)
　◦Takuji Narumi (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo)
・Moderator: Arisa Ema (Associate Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo)
(Click here for details on the event)

On Thursday, March 3, 2022, the event entitled “How Can VR Promote Awareness of Unconscious Bias?: About a Workshop Project Considering the Work Environment Surrounding Child-Rearing” was held by the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI) at the University of Tokyo.

The event featured an introduction to the project to create a virtual reality (VR)-based diversity training and workshop program, as well as a discussion of upcoming issues with the speakers and participants. It was also positioned as one of the events related to International Women’s Day within the Gender Equality Office of the University of Tokyo.

In the first half of the session, the three project members presented the background and content of the development of the project. Ms. Chujo talked about unconscious bias and its effects on the gender gap and child-rearing environment mainly in Japan, and introduced the workshop, which aims to improve the situation. Following this, Mr. Hatada shared an academic perspective on VR and empathy, which he considered important in the development of VR, and Mr. Kudo introduced the VR content. As a whole, these contents consisted of two parts: an office scene that goes on from the perspective of managers who have working parents as employees, and a scene at home where the experience continues from the perspective of the working parents. The scene was depicted as a situation in which an urgent e-mail comes in, but the working parent is distracted by taking care of her 2-year-old child and is unable to get on with her work. This means the VR aims to simulate both the manager’s and child-rearing employee’s positions.

After that, Ms. Oba from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan added her comments. She noted that the ratio of women in management and executive positions is much lower in Japan than in other countries, and mentioned that women face difficulties in balancing work and childcare, which hinders their career advancement, and expressed her expectations for this project utilizing VR.

The panel discussion, in which Associate Professor Narumi joined the speakers of the previous session, took place under the moderation of Associate Professor Ema, with Q&A from the participants. In the discussion, the members referred to what they had noticed throughout conducting the project, the limitations of VR and what should be supplemented in the workshop design, as well as the importance of collaboration among other fields.

The project has just started and is still in its trial-and-error stage. It is said that an unconscious bias and attitude of stereotyped gender roles is still strong when promoting gender equality in Japan. While hoping that VR contents enable us to realize the viewpoints of others and further reconsider our attitudes, the importance of including diverse perspectives in such a challenging endeavor was especially realized.