Equality Quest is brought to you by...
Aasiyah and teammates (13) from Denbigh High School.
Tell us more!
What is your product and who is it for?
Our product is a gaming app called Equality Quest. Our app is inclusive and can be used by everyone. However, we hope it is especially inspirational for girls.
What inspired your idea, and why is it important to you?
We were given the task of making an app that helped tackle gender bias (specifically within AI) . What inspired certain other features in the app was that we wanted to address various biases on a range of topics that impact girls, boys and others. This was important to us because some biases are addressed but many others are ignored or just not mentioned consistently. We wanted the app to positively affect everyone.
How does your product solve the problem?
Technology is constantly changing our world around us and the field of AI is a very promising opportunity we must take in order to move forward. However, even in this modern age there are gender biases that create ideas that are setting a low bar on what females can and cannot do. For example 71% - 78% of all AI industry professionals are male, while women account for only 22% - 29% of the field. Our app directly opposes these biases in the hope of inspiring women to take on male dominated fields. Hopefully, if more women help create AI there will be less bias in the AI itself.
How does it work?
The app provides multiple mini-games, each focusing on different aspects of gender equality.
Sorting Game: Teaches players to recognise and challenge stereotypes by sorting items into "Equal" or "Unequal" categories.
BEElive: A coding-based parkour game where players guide a bee through obstacles, promoting problem-solving and teamwork.
Explore: Allows players to discover various careers, especially in AI and computing, emphasising diversity in professional opportunities.
Inventions: Showcases diverse inventions by women and men from different backgrounds, highlighting innovation and representation on what they can achieve.
Meet the team
Why vote for Equality Quest?
In the UK, 10% of women report being refused a job specifically due to gender discrimination. In the US, 42% of working women report having faced gender discrimination in their job, including being passed over for roles in favour of men. In addition to this there is an exceptionally higher percentage of incidents going undocumented.
These are the effects of gender bias, and our app can positively influence younger children by implementing a growth-mindset. Wouldn't you want these values for our future? As children are our future, when they are older it will slowly eliminate these biased concepts.
The Ethical Innovators category is supported by EPAM
