Gender Swap in Virtual Reality for Supporting Inclusion and Implications in the Workplace

Abstract

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS We explored the potential impacts of a virtual gender swap on perceptions toward sexual harassment, which is a harmful behavior that lacks respect and inclusivity. Given that perceptions of harassing behaviors can vary, and that gender may influence one’s interpretation of such behaviors, we implemented gender swap in virtual reality (VR) to examine changes in sensitivity to harassment across genders. Participants reported harassing behaviors as more inappropriate when embodying female avatars, regardless of their own gender. Our results suggest that gender swap in VR may raise awareness and narrow the gender gap in harassment perceptions, showing potential of VR-based interventions for immersive workplace training to effectively address biases and promote inclusivity among diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Our study also shows the potential of VR to simulate diverse scenarios and perspectives for tailored training experiences that cater to the specific needs and challenges of different occupational settings.