D&I Group: Unconscious Bias

E V E R Y O N E .

“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

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 significantly higher starting salary for John.

Body piercings, tattoos or manner of dress

Example

Why does John get the STEM job rather than Jennifer?

Let's look at what unconscious bias is in more detail...

These behaviours are common. Try to think of an incident for each of the named examples that has happened to you or one of your colleagues or friends.

Can you think of a time when you behaved in this way towards someone?

Ways in which hidden biases translate into action:

How to prevent unconscious bias from turning into discrimination?

• Body language: Crossing your arms, avoiding eye contact, keeping a long distance, etc.

• Forgetting to acknowledge someone's presence/input.

• Not listening/being less attentive to someone than to other team members.

• Jumping to negative conclusions in order to explain confusing behaviour.

Organisational culture is key!

How to challenge your own biases

Discomfort around a coworker can signal an unconscious bias.

Do you find yourself cringing in a specific colleague’s presence from time to time? Fill in one or more of these blanks:

• I do not feel comfortable with this person because …

• I am skeptical about this worker’s ability to do a good job

because …

• I would be hesitant to put this employee in front of a customer because …

• I would prefer not to have this individual on my project team because ...*

*Eight Ways to Help End Workplace Prejudice - Leigh Steere

Questions to ask yourself

• 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?

• How do I assign work? Do I go to a certain person? How do I organize a project team?

• Do I encourage anyone more than anyone else on projects or in meetings and why?

• Do introverts receive the same opportunities?

We are all biased. It's is a natural disposition of our brain. What matters is how we act on our biased perception of the world.

Hidden biases can reveal themselves in action, especially when a person's

efforts to control behaviour flags under stress,

distraction, or competition.

If you want to find out which biases you hold, take the test!

Since unconscious bias is nothing but a standard way in which our brain processes information, there is a relatively reliable way of testing your biases: It's called the Implicit Association Test. You can try it for free here:

Click!

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

You can choose what type of biases you want to test yourself on.

(You may have to enable pop-ups if the link doesn't work immediately.)

Reflecting on our various unconscious biases will help...

Who do you think is more productive?

The person in this office?

1. ... us select the right candidates for roles at Greenpeace.

2. ... good decision making, e.g. during our performance and development review process.

3. ... in our everyday interactions with others at Greenpeace.

4. ... foster divergent thinking to improve our work as a team.

Where someone attended university or grew up

There are many types of unconscious bias....

Marital or parental status

Gender

Height and Weight

Sexuality

Introversion

or extroversion

What is unconscious bias?

The question is not "do we have bias?" but rather "which are ours?"

Not that organised people are any less productive, but...

Or the person that occupies this office?

Foreign accents

Openness encourages openness

Skin colour

Age

Volunteer activities or political affiliation

Disability status

"Extraordinary people are not extraordinary because they are invulnerable to unconscious biases. They are extraordinary because they choose to do something about it."

Who is biased?

Encourage conversations around bias and discrimination, starting by talking about your own experience.

This is going to be hard. It does not matter if you have been on the receiving end of discrimination, or have become aware of your own biases. It is an emotional topic that is difficult to address.

Reflection amongst team members is critical.

It can be easily discouraged by shaming people or having 'no-go' zones in conversation.

Steve Jobs

Albert Einstein

(Don't sweat it. It's a kind of reflex!)

Shankar Vedantam

"The Hidden Brain"

Push yourself out of your comfort zone!

You might be surprised about the positive effect this can have on others around you!

Representation matters!

Hiring a diverse work force, depicting non-stereotypical people in imagery of staff, celebrating all cultural backgrounds, etc. will facilitate change.

MANAGING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AT