Unconscious Bias
Sandra Reyes, Esquire
What is Unconscious Bias?
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Unconscious bias is not intentional for most part.
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It is a blind spot. We need to consciously examine
how we think.
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We use unconscious bias to make sense of things
around us by creating rules to process information to
the advantage of some & the disadvantage of other.
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Bias is an inflexible positive or negative conscious or
unconscious belief about a particular category of
people.
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Unconscious bias learning is designed to recognize
where there may be bias.
Considering the Unconscious Mind
Types of Unconscious Bias
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Skin color, gender, and age are generally what people think
of when they consider biases, but individuals can harbor
unconscious prejudice about a myriad of characteristics,
including:
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Height and weight
Introversion and extroversion
Marital and parental status
Disability status
Foreign accents
Where someone attended college or grew up
Volunteer activities
Body piercings/manner of dress
http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/2014/1214/pages/1214-hiddenbias.aspx#sthash.vi1gG1FW.dpuf
Actions that Demonstrate
Unconscious Bias
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Body language – over 95% of meaning
taken away involves body language
Eye movements – blinking, eye rolling
Repeatedly mispronouncing someone's
name or remember someone’s name
Interrupting a person/implying credit for
someone’s work
Taking credit for work
Not introducing someone
Not saying hello to someone
Distance between two people
Learning Objectives

Introduction and awareness of Unconscious Bias and
how it can affect our actions, particularly in the
workplace.

Understand unconscious bias and how it can distort our
relationships and affect our behavior, decisions, and
impact diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Develop skills to become more aware of and recognize
unconscious biases/automatic assumptions regarding
ourselves and others, particularly in the workplace.
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Implement change regarding unconscious bias in the
employment process.
“We’d
like to believe we are
open-minded, fair and without
bias, but research shows
otherwise. This is an important,
even if uncomfortable,
realization for most of us.”
Dr. Mahzarin Banaji
Decision Making and Bias

The question is not "do we have bias?" but rather "which
are ours?”

An enormous body of literature confirms that we all have
biases—some explicit, many implicit.

Perhaps most disturbing, implicit biases can be at odds
with our own conceptions of ourselves and our conscious
values and standards.

You may believe yourself to be open-minded and you
may be determined to select the most meritorious
candidate before you.
Implicit Association Tests
Project Implicit

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Women Endure Surprising
Bias in the Workplace
Gender Diversity

Despite many CEOs’ intentions to prioritize gender
equality, McKinsey & Co.’s 2015 Women in the
Workplace study revealed only one-third of
employees surveyed believe gender diversity is a top
priority for their direct manager.

What’s more, the same study stated that while 70
percent of men view gender diversity as important,
only 12 percent believe women have fewer
opportunities for advancement, and 13 percent of
men see gender diversity programs as a hurdle to their
own advancement.
Perception - Audio and
Visual Exercises
 What
do we hear and what do
we see
BLACK CHAIR
Image Credit:
KidKraft
What Am I Doing?
The procedure is quite simple. First, you arrange
things into different groups. Of course, one pile
may be sufficient, depending on how much
there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else
due to lack of facilities, that is the next step;
otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important
not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too
few things at once than too many. At first the
whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon,
however, it will become just another facet of life.
Citing: Toni Schmader
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Basketball Awareness Test
Can You Guess My Rule
Exercise
How a Name Affects Employment
and Job Opportunities

A National Bureau of Economic Research Paper shows that
job applicants with white names had a 50% chance of
getting a callback over those who had African-American
names. That is, traditional white sounding names only had to
send 10 resumes to get one callback, while those that didn’t
had to send out 15 resumes per callback.

A total of 5,000 resumes were sent out in response to help
wanted adds in Boston and Chicago newspapers.
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One of their unsettling findings is that maybe it’s employer
bias in play, or the perception that race is tied to
productivity.
Why does John get the STEM job rather than Jennifer?
- A 2012 study explored the hiring decisions of biology,
chemistry and physics faculty members — professions
that pride themselves on objectivity. They were given
applications identical in every way except for the
applicant’s sex. The professors favored the male job
applicant “John” over the female job applicant
“Jennifer.” They rated him as more competent, offered
him more mentoring and selected a higher starting
salary for John.
http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2014/why-does-john-get-stem-job-rather-jennifer#sthash.7VsHAqdI.dpuf
Types of Bias
We May Not Be Aware Of
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Stereo Type Bias
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Confirmation Bias
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In-group vs. Out-group
Stereo Type Bias
Stereotype
The difference between bias and stereotype is
that a bias is a personal preference, like or
dislike, especially when the tendency
interferes with the ability to be impartial,
unprejudiced, or objective.
On the other hand, a stereotype is a
preconceived idea that attributes certain
characteristics (in general) to all the members
of class or set.
What is the Effect of
Stereotypes on Behavior?
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Social groups are categorized into in-groups and
outgroups. Once people are categorized as belonging
to one group rather than another they tend to
emphasize similarities to individuals in that group and
exaggerate differences between groups. Stereotypes
of outgroups are often central to group identity.
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People tend to pay attention to stereotype-consistent
information and disregard stereotype-inconsistent
information (confirmation bias).
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Negative stereotypes may be internalized by
stereotyped groups (stereotype threat).
(SEE, Princeton Trilogy)
In Group Bias
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This bias can make us so much more comfortable
with those who we unconsciously feel are like us
and in our group. We tend to over-estimate the
abilities of our immediate group.

What do you think the effect of this is on people
we do not know?
Confirmation Bias
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Agreeing with people who agree with us.
We seek out groups, people sources that
agree with our views. Often there are
unconscious act of referencing only what
agrees with our pre-exiting views.
Unconscious Bias In Employment
Literally, there are thousands of
research studies on the topic of
Unconscious Bias.
(See, Journals of Psychology)
Evidence of Racial, Gender Bias
Found in Faculty Mentoring
Shankar Vedantam
Studies on Unconscious Bias and
Behavior

A growing number of studies show a link between hidden
biases and actual behavior. In other words, hidden biases
can reveal themselves in action, especially when a person's
efforts to control behavior consciously flags under stress,
distraction, relaxation or competition.
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Unconscious beliefs and attitudes have been found to be
associated with language and certain behaviors such as eye
contact, blinking rates and smiles.
True Colors - Racial
Discrimination in Everyday Life
Summary of Studies
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A now classic experiment showed that white interviewers sat farther away from
black applicants than from white applicants, made more speech errors, and
ended the interviews 25% sooner. Such discrimination has been shown to
diminish the performance of anyone treated that way, whether black or white.
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Those who showed greater levels of implicit prejudice toward, or stereotypes of,
black or gay people were more unfriendly toward them.
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Subjects who had a stronger hidden race bias had more activity in a part of the
brain known to be responsible for emotional learning when shown black faces
than when shown white faces.
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Studies indicate that African American teenagers are aware they are
stigmatized as being intellectually inferior and that they go to school bearing
what psychologist Claude Steele has called a "burden of suspicion." Such a
burden can affect their attitudes and achievement.
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Similarly, studies found that when college women are reminded their group is
considered bad at math, their performance may fulfill this prophecy.
Southern Poverty Law Center
What Can Be Done
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For instance, Carnegie Mellon University
increased the percentage of women in
Computer Science from 7 percent to 42
percent in five years by decreasing the
requirements about previous levels of
computer experience, as it is an ability that
can be taught. This change did not impact the
quality of Computer Science graduates.
Activities to Tackle
Unconscious Bias
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Encourage facilitated, voluntary dicussions on bias.
critical.
Self-awareness is
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Survey employees on their experiences with unconscious bias within your
organization. Tailor training and intervention on your findings.
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As your organization tackles bias, additional ideas relate to the challenges
you face in your workplace. Portraying those who may be subject to
unconscious bias in different light is helpful through literature, posters, and
social media.
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One large corporation took on renaming the corporate conference rooms
from previously almost 100 percent white male names.
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Suggestions also include depicting person with a disability in leadership
roles, women in traditionally male dominated positions, an older person
involved in a technology related project.
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Arrange for employees to have interaction with people who are different.
This interaction allows people of diverse backgrounds to get to know each
other as individuals with common goals, not merely as members of a group
about which they might hold an unconscious bias.
Recruitment
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Create concrete and core competencies for recruitment,
interviewing, promotions, and assignments, that lead to
promotional opportunities and open positions.
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Are the criteria for a vacancy strictly defined?
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How do you ensure that the job criteria (person specification
and required experience) are based only on the essential
requirements of the position, to avoid creating barriers to any
qualified individuals?
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Do you use standardized application forms, so all candidates
are submitting the same types of information and can be
compared fairly?
http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/
Unconscious Bias in Higher Education” http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/unconscious-bias-in-higher-education
Recruitment
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Perception – perception can be our reality
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First impression – must acknowledge this and not
allow to drive the recruitment process
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Behavior – interaction and receptiveness to all
groups of people
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Attitude – how to we first react when we are
interacting with a person of a different
race/gender/religion/disability
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Listening – Do we actively listen to what certain
people say
Recruitment
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Are the criteria for a vacancy strictly defined?

How do you ensure that the job criteria (person
specification and required experience) are based
only on the essential requirements of the position, to
avoid creating barriers to any qualified individuals?

Do you use standardized application forms, so all
candidates are submitting the same types of
information and can be compared fairly?
Unconscious Bias in Higher Education” http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/unconscious-bias-in-higher-education
Social Network
Recruiting and Bias
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CareerBuilder studied the use of hiring through
social networks.
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The results were that 34% of hiring managers
use social networks to find reasons not to hire a
candidate.
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Bias? Subjectivity?
Interview
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Acknowledge
impression.
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How do selection panels specifically consider equality
and diversity issues when preparing for recruitment? Do
you use diverse selection panels?
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Encouraging panel members to consider the similarities,
rather than the differences, of people from minority and
majority groups.
“Unconscious
to
yourself
Bias in Higher Education”
education
and
evaluate
your
first
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/unconscious-bias-in-higher-
Promotions
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How do you ensure decisions on promotions are
justified on objective rather than subjective grounds?
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For example, are justifications based on the specific
skills and knowledge of a candidate, and not on their
‘fit’ in the team?
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Are all decision-making processes documented to
ensure that justifications are consistent, based on the
defined criteria and in compliance with your legal
obligations?
Unconscious Bias in Higher Education” http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/unconscious-bias-in-highereducation
Questions to Ask Yourself
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Are my hires the same “type”?
Have I used the term “right fit” and what do I mean??
Do I make sure my list of candidates is diverse?
Have I had successful hires. Have I thought about
unsuccessful hires? What can I learn from successful and
unsuccessful hires?
How do I assign work? Do I go to a certain person? How do I
organize a project team?
Who do I give opportunities to for face time within the
organization or on the outside?
Do I encourage anyone more than anyone else on projects
or in meetings and why? Do introverts receive the same
opportunities?
What is my process for promotion and succession?
See,http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/2014/1214/pages/1214-hiddenbias.aspx#sthash.vi1gG1FW.dpuf
Discomfort With a Co-worker
Often Signals Bias
Next time you find yourself cringing in a colleague’s presence,
fill in one or more of these blanks.
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I do not feel comfortable with this person because …
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I am skeptical about this worker’s ability to do a good job
because …
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I would be hesitant to put this employee in front of a
customer because …
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I would prefer not to have this individual on my project team
because …
Eight Ways to Help End Workplace Prejudice - Leigh Steere
U.S. Women's Team Files
Wage-Discrimination Action vs.
U.S. Soccer
Summary
Extraordinary people are not
extraordinary because they are
invulnerable to unconscious
biases. They are extraordinary
because they choose to do
something about it.
Citing: Shankar Vedantam
“The Hidden Brain”
Conclusion