Discussing inequality often comes across as a reproach to those enjoying a privileged position – men, that is. Criticism might seem unfair, as there is no conspiracy going on against women, no secret handshake among men, and besides, it's not like we men have it easy. Right?

It's important, then, to realize that gender bias is an automatic and subconscious process based on decades of nurturing and being exposed to cultural norms. There's a chance you read the title of this column twice, because you associated both 'excellent' and 'leader' with a male figure, regardless of whether you – the reader – are male or female. It's an example of the extent to which gender roles are fixed in our language. The proper term is implicit bias. And it's exactly because of that implicitness that makes it hard to fight with explicit measures.

Women are characterized as 'diligent' and 'precise', whereas men are 'excellent' and 'super'

Even reasearch funder NWO recently turned out to use gender-biased language, even though the organization aims at being explicitly gender-neutral. An applicant is requested to send in his resume. Words like 'challenging' and 'excellent', which we know to appeal to men rather than women, are used abundantly. Leters or recommendations also include subtle, but devastating differences in languages: women are often described as 'diligent' and 'precise', which points to hard work rather than talent. Words like 'excellent' and 'talented' and typically reserved for male candidates.

Progress in science requires talent and expertise from every single researcher regardless of their sex. TU/e's focus on excellence deserves a solid base where communication, cooperation and social relevance is equally important as the male superlatives we like to use.

Check out the Gender-Science or Gender-Career IATBrain matters | An excellent leader watches her language

Wijnand IJsselsteijn | Full professor of Cognition and Affect at Human-Technology Interaction