Unconscious bias can impact the workplace and contribute to stereotypes, harassment, and discrimination. Training programs for managers and employees on this topic may address:
- Forms of unconscious bias and examples
- Research about the neuroscience of bias
- Studies about how biases result in inequities
- Exploring one’s individual biases and how to adjust them
- Negative effects of failing to address unconscious bias
- Ways to remove bias from individual decision-making, systems, and organizations
For individuals and organizations seeking to remove unconscious bias, education programs often consist of multiple training sessions over a period of weeks or months. This allows time for personal integration of the ideas and lays the foundation for more conscious and systemic changes.
There is a wealth of information and resources available for managers to learn more about how to address unconscious bias at both the individual and organizational level.
General resources for understanding unconscious or implicit bias
- Catalyst, What is Unconscious Bias? New York: Catalyst, December 2014
- McCombs School of Business, Concepts Unwrapped: Implicit Bias - video
- IDEA Berkeley Lab, Implicit Bias Awareness Video and Resource List
- Neuroscience of Implicit Bias, American Bar Association Litigation Section, 21-minute video addressing implicit bias generally and in the legal profession, December 2011
- “If Diversity is so important, why don’t we have more of it?” Stanford University Professor Margaret A. Neale provides an overview of the research on bias and how it affects the evaluation of talent in companies. 16 minute video, January 2018
Resources for assessing and challenging individual biases
Take an Implicit Association Test to evaluate your own biases, Harvard’s Project Implicit
Catalyst. How to Combat Unconscious Bias as a Leader in Your Organization. New York: Catalyst, December 2014
AAUW, How to Fight Your Own Implicit Biases
Catalyst, How to Combat Unconscious Bias as an Individual
“Implicit Bias: How it affects us and how we push through”
It's About Time We Challenge Our Unconscious Biases, Juliette Powell, TEDxStLouisWomen
Just belonging: finding the courage to interrupt bias, Kori Carew, TEDxYouth@KC
How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias, Valerie Alexander, TEDxPasadena
Resources about removing or interrupting bias in the workplace
Proven Strategies for Addressing Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Bias Interrupter Toolkits and Resources for Organizations and Individuals
Breaking barriers: Unconscious gender bias in the workplace, International Labor Organization, August 2017