2023-11-01
by Pisana Ferrari

“Navigating the Frontiers of DEI and AI: Insights from cApStAn’s 2023 I.C.E. Exchange Experience”

One of cApStAn’s teams is just back from Colorado Springs, USA, where they attended the 2023 Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.) Exchange. Devasmita Ghosh (Business Development and Marketing Lead), Nela Manojlovic (Project Manager) and Founding Partner Steve Dept spent a full week there. One needs to begin with the venue. The Broadmoor is a mythical …

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2023-10-02
by Pisana Ferrari

“AI and DEI Take Centre Stage at E-ATP 2023: Insights from cApStAn LQC”

This year the E-ATP 2023 Annual Conference was held in Vienna from September 20 to 22. At cApStAn, we have never missed the E-ATP conferences since 2015 in Dublin, and we are very proud to be one of the Silver Sponsors of this year’s edition. We were represented in Vienna by Founding Partner and Head …

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2023-06-24
by Pisana Ferrari

Reflections from the e-Assessment Association (eAA) Conference: Insights, Connections, and New Perspectives

The 2023 edition of the e-Assessment Association Conference, which took place in London, June 6-7, offered valuable insights, connections, and fresh perspectives to industry professionals, encouraging collaboration and knowledge exchange. It covered a broad range of topics, including language bias in AI and inclusive assessment practices, exam security enhancements, innovative test design, guidelines for validity …

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2023-05-30
by Pisana Ferrari

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Bias Reduction: DEI-BR Analysis and Adjustment of survey questions

Awareness of diversity, equity, inclusion and bias reduction (DEI-BR) in surveys is growing, becoming increasingly indispensable as it ensures the reliability of any data collection instrument. cApStAn is a language service provider with a 20+ year experience in partnering with organizations who administer surveys in multiple languages and cultures. Our initial contribution to DEI-BR started …

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2023-05-13
by Pisana Ferrari

cApStAn Founding Partner Steve Dept presenting at e-Assessment 2023 on how to mitigate bias in multilingual and monolingual assessments

cApStAn co-founder Steve Dept is delighted to have been invited to be a speaker at the International e-Assessment and Awards conference taking place in London June 6-7, 2023. His talk, titled “Meaning shifts, perception shifts – language as a component of inclusiveness”, is scheduled for Day 1 at 11:00 BST. In multilingual or in monolingual …

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2023-04-04
by Pisana Ferrari

Findings from recent USA Today/Ipsos poll on “wokeness”, inclusive language, teaching of slavery in public schools, and banning of books now published

A joint USA Today/Ipsos Poll was conducted by Ipsos from March 3 to March 5, 2023, on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,023 adults age 18 or older. The sample included 311 Democrats, 290 Republicans, and 312 independents. The poll investigated respondents’ opinions on a very broad range of topical and potentially controversial issues including: …

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2023-04-04
by Pisana Ferrari

Recent Ipsos survey on gender equality reveals concerns about it having gone too far

Ipsos has recently unveiled the results of a global study on gender equality carried out in 32 countries, in collaboration with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, for International Women’s Day. Ipsos interviewed a total of 22,508 adults aged 18-74 in the US, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, and Turkey, 20-74 in …

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2023-01-31
by Pisana Ferrari

Stanford University’s initiative to replace racist and harmful terminology backfires

Further to widespread internal and external criticism and mockery, Stanford University has taken down their “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative” (EHLI) website, created in May 2022. The EHLI was an effort co-sponsored by the Stanford CIO Council and the People of Color in Technology (POC-IT) affinity group. The primary motivation of the initiative was to …

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2022-11-23
by Pisana Ferrari

The introduction of emoji skin tones to improve inclusivity has opened up a complex conversation around identity and digital self-representation

In 2015 the Unicode Consortium introduced the possibility to choose from different skin tones when using emoji of faces, gestures and people. This was part of an overall effort, on the part of the consortium, to improve diversity and inclusivity in emoji online communications (1). However, this move has also opened up a complex conversation …

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2022-11-22
by Pisana Ferrari

“Algospeak”, a new vocabulary that has emerged on TikTok as content creators try to get around algorithms and strict content moderation

Seggs, leg booty, cornucopia, nip nops, S.A., D.V. and panoramic are just a few examples of a new vocabulary that is emerging on the TikTok social media platform, often referred to as “Algospeak”(see table below for the meanings). In a recent article for the The New York Times senior staff editor Melina Dukic writes that …

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2022-11-21
by Pisana Ferrari

“Neurodiversity” may be the next frontier in discussions around DEI in the workplace

Cultures and societies are dynamic and so is awareness of social justice issues. Recent global movements such as #metoo and #blm have shone a light on many of the inequities in the world and highlighted the need to work towards a more inclusive society. Awareness of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is …

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2022-11-17
by Pisana Ferrari

Recent study reveals the extent to which accent bias is pervasive in British educational and work settings

A study on accent bias in Britain, titled “Speaking up”, has recently been published by the Sutton Trust, a UK charity whose work focuses on social mobility issues. The study, based on the experiences of sixth-formers, university students and professionals, reveals that 30% of university students, 29% of university applicants (mainly 17-18-year-olds), and 25% of …

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