Workplace Unconscious Bias: Minimizing the Impact on Discrimination, Hiring, Promotions, and Retention

Implicit, or unconscious bias, exists in the workplace and classrooms. What does it look like? How can an employer create an unbiased work environment? How can management get in touch with their own unconscious biases to combat unintentional bias with colleagues and clients? Research suggests that unconscious bias regarding race and gender impacts relationships with those we interact with. 

We all experience some degree of unconscious bias—yes, even those of us that are well-intentioned. Unconscious bias includes the subtle associations we make toward groups of people. Stereotypes, which often operate unconsciously, are often the root of our bias. The phenomenon has been used to partially explain the racial tension in the U. S. and particularly with the police shootings of Black men. The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recognizes the important role unconscious bias plays in the life of attorneys and law enforcement. As a result, the DOJ has been rolling out training to more than 23,000 agents in the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies as well as 5,800 attorneys in 94 U. S. Attorney’s Offices around the country. State and local police and sheriff departments are also conducting unconscious bias training.

More and more organizations are incorporating unconscious bias training for managers and employees recognizing the role it plays in workplace discrimination including hiring, promotion, retention, and talent management practices. Wall Street estimated that 20% of large corporations conduct unconscious bias training. It shapes the organizational climate. One of the challenges in addressing implicit bias, based on the research is that people are often resistant to accepting behavior that is inconsistent with their stereotypes while accepting behavior that is consistent with stereotypes.

In spite of over 50 years of civil rights law, inequality continues based on sex, race, disability, and other protected classes, as it relates to levels of education, poverty and success. Unconscious bias influences those inequalities. Courts have recognized the existence of unconscious discrimination since the earliest Title VII decisions and have specifically stated that Title VII reaches this form of discrimination.

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. Unconscious bias includes 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 dangerous. 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) which most of us associate with overt prejudice such as racism, sexism, and other forms of intolerance.

• To define unconscious bias
• To examine the science of unconscious bias
• To list examples of unconscious bias
• To explain types of unconscious bias
• To explore the role of stereotypes in unconscious bias
• To discuss implicit association test (IAT)
• To identify steps in minimizing  individual unconscious bias
• To outline steps, HR and management should implement to diminish unconscious bias.

• Tips for diminishing unconscious bias will be provided
• An online link to assess your unconscious biases
• New knowledge about unconscious bias – what the science says.

• All Management including team leaders, supervisors, middle managers, directors, senior leaders, administrators
• Human resources professionals including generalists and HR managers
• Risk Managers
• Senior leaders
• All employees