Ladies, if you’re tired of choosing Google emojis that portray women in a clichéd manner, there is good news! On July 14, 2016 Google announced its plans to release 11 new male and female emojis that better represent working professionals today. Google has a huge range of emojis, but none of them represent the vast range in female careers. With these 11 new emojis people will be able to select women from different ethnic backgrounds with diverse jobs in their conversations with one another.
The new female characters include: welder, music conductor, doctor, mechanic, farmer, health worker, scientist, coder, business person, chef, student, teacher and rockstar.
This initiative was approved by the emoji subcommittee of the Unicode Consortium, an NGO that develops and promotes software internationalization standards. This committee is also adding 33 new versions of already existing male and female emojis.
Google facts
According to a study cited by Google, more than 90 percent people with access to emojis, use them. What’s more is 78 percent women use emojis often, compared to 60 percent men. Google itself struggles with diversity in the workforce with a majority of male and white employees. The company’s employees are made up of 69 percent men and 59 percent white people.
New emojis on old phones
These new emojis could turn into completely new graphics when sent to older Android devices that don’t support them. For example, the female runner could appear as two icons – a male runner followed by an image of a woman’s head, possibly creating the impression of a man running from a woman.
Forward planning
Google is planning to release these new emojis in future Android versions very soon. The company suggests vendors such as Apple and Microsoft begin the implementation process now so that there is no confusion in communication.
