The Discomfort of Unconscious Bias in the Workplace: How the Willingness to Notice It Underpins Change
Dr. Ellen Choi and Yuri Cho
In today’s diverse workplace, unconscious biases can inadvertently lead to unfair decisions, hinder inclusivity, and stifle innovation. Implementing strategies to address it at both organizational and individual levels is crucial for building truly equitable and thriving environments; however, this requires a willingness to understand how unconscious bias is experienced at work and a desire to seek out areas of organizational denial.
What Exactly is Unconscious Bias?
Unconscious biases, also referred to as implicit biases, are the attitudes and stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unintentional manner. These biases are shaped by our life experiences, cultural influences, media portrayals, and the social environments we navigate. They can exist even in individuals who consciously advocate for equality and fairness – for example, holding an unconscious belief that older employees are technologically unsavvy, younger employees lack work ethic, or that People of Colour are less educated, impoverished, or dangerous.
Organizational Strategies to Address Unconscious Bias
Organizations have a significant role to play in mitigating the impact of unconscious bias. A multi-faceted approach is necessary that incorporates training, organizational processes, and policies.
- Set and Measure Diversity and Inclusion Goals: Establishing measurable diversity and inclusion goals, like proportional representation in leadership or new hires, and tracking progress can help organizations identify areas where bias might be hindering their objectives. Because these biases are unconscious, a great deal of effort must be devoted to demonstrating that they exist, and tracking metrics that operationalize change over time.
- Awareness Training: Implementing comprehensive unconscious bias training programs is a crucial first step. These programs offer education about the different types of biases, how they manifest in the workplace, and the potential negative consequences. However, awareness alone is often insufficient and needs to be coupled with practical strategies and ongoing reinforcement. Training leaders to be aware of their own biases and to actively foster inclusive behaviors within their teams is essential. This includes encouraging diverse perspectives, actively seeking out input from underrepresented groups, and holding themselves and others accountable for inclusive practices.
- Review and Revision of Policies and Processes: Examining existing policies and processes (e.g., recruitment, performance management, promotion) for potential sources of bias and revise them to promote fairness and equity.
- Creating a Culture of Feedback and Accountability: Establish mechanisms for employees to provide feedback about potential bias and ensure that concerns are taken seriously and that complaints are addressed appropriately.
- Bias Interruption Techniques: Organizations should equip employees with concrete techniques to interrupt bias in real-time decision-making processes. This can include:
- Blind Review: Removing identifying information (names, gender indicators, etc.) from resumes and work samples during initial screening.
- Structured Interviews: Using standardized questions and evaluation criteria for all candidates to minimize subjective judgments.
- Diverse Interview Panels: Ensuring interview teams include individuals from diverse backgrounds to bring different perspectives to the evaluation process.
- Devil’s Advocate: Assigning someone to challenge assumptions and offer alternative viewpoints during discussions and decision-making.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Relying on objective data and metrics rather than gut feelings when evaluating performance, promotions, and compensation.
Individual Strategies for Self-Awareness
Becoming aware of our own unconscious biases is an ongoing process that requires introspection and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths and feelings of times when we have been the perpetrator, and/or the perpetrated. Below are two ways to deepen your own awareness.
- Seek Out Your Own Biases: Utilize available resources like implicit association tests (IATs) to gain insights into potential unconscious biases. While these tests have limitations, they can serve as a starting point for self-reflection. Examine your Circle of Trust by writing down a list of your 5-10 closest relationships and notice how diverse the community is that you are surrounded by. Actively engage with individuals from diverse backgrounds and opposing views, and listen to their experiences. Challenge your own assumptions and practice understanding different perspectives, especially those you disagree with. Please be aware that individuals from marginalized groups often bear the emotional labor of educating others about bias and inequity so, rather than relying on others to explain these concepts to you, take the initiative to learn and act.
- Reflect on Your Past Transgressions: Recall a time where you may have made assumptions, offended another, or got defensive. What happened? What counter-evidence or alternative explanations could you have considered? What emotions arise when you reflect on these situations?
Addressing Discomfort with Bias
Exploring biases, whether our own or times when we’ve experienced it, can be uncomfortable due to fear of judgment, appearing prejudiced, or damaging relationships. However, open and honest dialogue is crucial for progress as it is difficult to change matters without discussion. Here are five ways to navigate this discomfort:
- Learn from Your Mistakes: Should you be so fortunate that someone is willing to point out that you have made a misstep in a conversation, be curious. Try asking questions and be conscious of a desire to respond defensively. If apologizing does not resonate for you, try and create the space to just listen and if it feels authentic, you might thank the person for sharing their experience with you.
- Understand What Is At Stake: In the presence of big emotional reactions, there is often an underlying need, value, or identity being triggered. Think about a time where you experienced bias or where you might have gotten judgmental or defensive when someone brought up their experience of bias. What underlying need is getting challenged and with greater awareness, can you tend to that need so that you are able to respond more adaptively next time?
- Speak Up: If you feel compelled to speak up, speak up. Using “I” statements and describing the situation can help communicate your experience without directly accusing the other person. If you notice that you often wish you spoke up or that you prefer not to, see if you can devote some time and space to non-judgmentally examine why this is your preferred response. What would you need to feel safe enough to speak up? How could you create this safety for others?
- Seek Support: Find trusted colleagues, mentors, or affinity groups where you can have open and honest conversations about their and your own experiences with bias and receive support.
- Find Your Place in the Wheel of Power and Privilege: The Wheel of Power and Privilege is a valuable tool for understanding how different social categories grant individuals varying levels of advantage and disadvantage. It highlights how factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, age, and religion intersect to create systems of power. Those who hold more privileged identities often benefit from unconscious biases that align with and reinforce their existing advantages, while those from marginalized groups can be disproportionately disadvantaged by these same biases.
Addressing unconscious bias is not a quick fix but an ongoing commitment. By implementing systemic changes within organizations and fostering individual awareness, we can begin to engage in more open dialogue in hopes to foster workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and belong.