Unconscious Bias in the Workplace: From Micro-inequities to Micro-affirmations
OVERVIEW Unconscious bias, or implicit bias , is built into our DNA—it is part of our human nature. It is automatic for humans to categorize individuals and groups to help us make sense of the world. Micro inequities and unconscious bias include mental shortcuts to categorize people we are unfamiliar with into specific groups. Often those groups are labeled “good” or “bad”. The brain is hard-wired to create these groups and from an evolutionary standpoint, this hard-wiring helped us determine what was safe and what meant danger. Once assigned to the group, we attribute stereotypes that we associate with that group. Unconscious bias, implicit bias, is different from conscious bias (explicit bias) that most of us associate with overt prejudice such as racism, sexism and other forms of intolerance. WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND We all experience some degree of micro inequities and unconscious bias—yes, even those of us that are well-intentioned. Unconscious bias includes the subtle a...