Read the Course Overview.
2. Biases That Result from Making Assumptions
3. Seeking Confirmation of Our Biases
4. Biases that Arise from Fixation
[Course: Understanding Unconscious Bias.] HOST: When you understand unconscious bias, you can take steps to overcome it and build strong, diverse teams. In this course, you'll learn about the characteristics of unconscious bias. You'll find out about different types of unconscious bias that can affect your thinking and decision-making. And you'll learn about the positive things that can happen when you address unconscious bias in the workplace.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
[Topic: What Is Unconscious Bias?] LISA: My team members, Mary and Cherie, are up for promotion, and I'm struggling to choose between them. They've both got great qualifications, and they've both done well this quarter. I suppose, when I think about it, Mary's probably more responsible. [Lisa makes a phone call.] Yes, I'd like to go with Mary. I'll let her and Cherie know this afternoon.
HOST: Lisa's decision was based on cold hard facts, right? Well, maybe, and maybe not. One thing that separates Mary from Cherie is age, Mary is older than Cherie. To Lisa, older people seem more responsible than younger ones. And that's an assumption she doesn't even know she's made. In fact, Mary got the promotion because of Lisa's unconscious bias.
Bias affects every decision you make, whether you know it or not. A bias is a stereotype or an assumption about a category of people. We naturally categorize people quickly and instinctively based on visible categories, such as gender, race, disability, and age. We also use invisible categories, like sexual orientation or income level.
An unconscious bias means you don't know you're biased. It's an assumption you're unaware you're making about a category of people. You know you're not racist or sexist, but you might assume that someone's not intelligent just because they don't speak your language, or that your male colleague will make a better leader than your female one, without thinking through the reasoning behind your assumption.
But bias doesn't make you a bad person, because guess what, we all have biases, and we use them constantly! They give us a way to evaluate information quickly, but the problem is that we don't always come to the right conclusions.
Bias runs so deep because it's based in human nature. It's related to the survival instinct and the need to make snap decisions about the safety of our surroundings, including people. Everyone instinctively categorizes people based on how they look, their education level, their accent, their social status, and so on, and assigns assumed traits to them. The advantage is you can efficiently process information about people. But the disadvantage is you can often make wrong assumptions, and then take action based on these wrong assumptions.
To avoid this, you need to become more aware that you're being influenced by bias, because when you're consciously evaluating your assumptions, you can avoid acting on assumptions that don't hold up.
Fortunately, over the last 50 years or so, people have become more aware of diversity, and that has helped people to think more about unconscious bias.
Laws have been made to protect people and tolerance is encouraged. Companies hire diversity officers and people take diversity training. So nowadays, most people agree that an inclusive society is a good society – and that means understanding and challenging unconscious biases.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
[Topic: Biases That Result from Making Assumptions] HOST: People make assumptions all the time. And in the workplace, unconscious assumption biases usually fall into four categories. The first is gender bias. Gender bias exists whenever you treat people differently simply because of their gender. Signs of gender bias in the workplace include unequal pay for men and women, or even talking differently with men and women in business situations.
LISA: Hey Julia, did you hear Rajesh got promoted?
JULIA: He's so lucky – management really want to show they're serious about diversity, right? At least Bill got promoted too – he's so smart, and he works so hard.
HOST: What assumptions is Julia making? Julia puts Rajesh's success down to luck and affirmative action, while she assumes Bill deserved the promotion. This is the second type of unconscious bias, performance bias, which happens when you make assumptions about someone's performance based on characteristics like race or gender. This kind of performance bias usually happens when comparing a dominant social group to a less dominant group – with Bill and Rajesh, a white person and a person of color.
The next unconscious bias is value attribution bias. Whether you encounter anything new, you unconsciously assign a value to it. This can apply to objects, like if you see a Rembrandt painting at a flea market, you might not recognize it because of the setting. But it can also apply to people – for example, you might turn down a sales pitch, because you didn’t like how someone looked. And once you assign value to someone, it changes your perception of any subsequent interactions with the person.
Finally, diagnosis bias goes hand-in-hand with value attribution bias. It happens when you label people based on first impressions, and never change these opinions even when later evidence contradicts your initial diagnosis.
JULIA: So who are you sending to meet the new client? Alex has been so great with customers lately…
LISA: No, not Alex. Remember his interview two years ago? He was so shy he could hardly look at me. Let's send Mary.
HOST: Alex was shy two years ago, but he's improved his social skills since then. But Lisa can only see the "old" Alex. That's an example of diagnosis bias.
When you let assumption biases go unchecked, you damage other people's chances of success and deprive yourself of the benefit of others' experience.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
[Topic: Seeking Confirmation of Our Biases.] HOST: We like to think that we're objective in the judgments we make about the world around us. But in fact, people tend to listen more to information that confirms the beliefs they already have. This is known as confirmation bias, and you might recognize its symptoms.
LISA: I'm thinking about moving my savings into Callitel shares. I love their products, they're so "with it" right now. And a safe bet, don't you think?
(DUBIOUSLY) JULIA: Well, I don't know – there was that product recall last month, and then the scandal about the CEO. Isn't their share price falling?
(RESOLUTELY) LISA: Well, right now. But those fraud allegations? Just the media blowing things out of proportion again. Callitel's a great company.
HOST: It sounds like Callitel is in trouble, but Lisa can only see the good side – she's got a bad case of confirmation bias. This happens when you favor information that confirms your previously existing beliefs or biases. You look for "proof" that backs up your belief, and discount any information that doesn't support it.
A related kind of bias is commitment confirmation bias. When you've made a commitment to a particular point of view, your mind can get stuck on it, even when it's obviously wrong. It happens especially when the point of view offers a way to save face, or appear right. For example, bidding wars can happen when people get so attached to the idea of buying a property that they lose sight of the fact that they are paying way too much for it.
JULIA: They're taking membership applications for the board of management. You should apply, Lisa. You must be most senior person who isn't already on the board.
LISA: I don't know, Julia – not sure I'm up to the job. Tom should go for it. He'd fit in better with all the guys.
HOST: Lisa's not aware of it, but the fact that all the board members are men has kept her from seeing herself as a possible part of the group – a clear example of a bias known as stereotype threat. It happens when you unconsciously confirm negative stereotypes about your own racial, ethnic, gender, or cultural group.
Studies have shown that people can perform less well if they are exposed to a negative stereotype about themselves. The interesting thing about stereotype threat is that you don’t have to actually believe it to underperform – that’s how unconscious it can be. In the workplace, stereotype threat can prevent people from applying for a job or asking for a promotion, as Lisa has shown.
Being aware of confirmation bias can stop you from becoming a prisoner of your own assumptions, and help you stay open to other ideas.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
[Topic: Biases that Arise from Fixation.] HOST: In an ideal world, when you had to make a decision, you'd weigh all the information and select the best course of action objectively. But in reality, people often let one factor overwhelm their decision – they get fixated. A few types of biases can happen as a result of fixation.
LISA: Okay, so let's move on to the IT budget – any suggestions?
MARY: Have you heard about this new virtual conferencing software? It uses hologram technology. And it makes it seem like you're actually in the room. We should definitely invest in it.
LISA: I don't know…the conferencing software we have works well. I was thinking more in terms of software that we don't have.
(INSISTENTLY) MARY: No, but really – it makes sense to get it. Everyone will have it soon.
HOST: Mary has a case of attentional bias – when you choose to pay attention to some things and ignore others in making a decision. When you're choosing between options, it's important to consider all of the possibilities, but sometimes you might get stuck on just a few options. This type of bias can be influenced by your emotional state. Insurance companies use this bias to their advantage when they use disasters in their commercials. The fear of a terrible disaster often overwhelms the fact that, rationally, the disaster is very unlikely to happen.
Another type of bias is anchoring bias. When people are trying to decide something, they often start from an anchor or focal point. But people often rely too heavily on that first piece of information they learn, and that can influence their decision inappropriately. You find this in salary negotiations. Research has shown that whoever makes the first offer has the edge, because the anchoring effect makes that number the starting point for all further negotiations.
Finally, there are the related biases of primacy and recency.
JULIA: So what did you about the candidates? Taku had a lot of great ideas, don't you think?
LISA: Yeah, but he was ten minutes late. Hard to even remember what he said after that. What about Janice? She has great qualifications, and what energy!
JULIA: Well what she said about her previous job…seemed a little unprofessional to me.
HOST: Sometimes people judge something only on what has happened first – that's primacy bias – or most recently – that's recency bias. The result is they don't take any other events into account. Lisa and Julia are suffering from these biases in their discussion about the interviews they've just held. Lisa is stuck on Taku's initial lateness – the primacy bias. And Julia can only think of the last thing Janice said – the recency bias.
Keeping an eye on your fixations can help you to keep your mind open to other possibilities when you make decisions.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
[Topic: Addressing Bias to Benefit the Workplace.] MARY: Who did you choose for that new role, Lisa?
LISA: We haven't made up our minds yet. Janice is the best candidate, but she has young children. She'll probably be too focused on them to keep her mind on the job. [Mary looks at Lisa in disbelief.]
HOST: Lisa is displaying an unconscious bias – because Janice is a woman with children, Lisa assumes she won't perform well. That could lead her to miss out on picking the best person for the job, simply because she hasn't examined her assumptions.
The nature of unconscious bias is that you’re not aware of your bias or prejudiced beliefs. But that lack of awareness can have damaging consequences both for the way you work and for the people you work with. Bias is just a belief – it's not an action. It only becomes dangerous when you act upon your bias in a way that may be detrimental to others, your company, or yourself. That's when your bias can lead to discrimination.
For example, you may be influenced by unconscious bias when you carry out a performance review. If you act on that bias, it can result in an unfair review. It can cause mistrust, lower morale, or make good people leave your organization. It can even be illegal.
But remember, bias is only dangerous if you act on it. Many studies have shown that once people are made aware of their biases, they are more than willing to change them. When you're aware of your biases, they're less likely to dictate your decisions.
Tackling unconscious bias has several benefits. It can increase diversity in your organization, by opening up people’s views toward hiring and holding onto people from different races, genders, and cultural backgrounds. Bringing in different perspectives can enrich your organization and cause everyone to perform better.
You can also foster innovation by addressing unconscious biases. Not all biases are about types of people – they are often about how you process information or make decisions. Dealing with these unconscious biases can open people's minds to new possibilities, which helps them come up with more exciting ideas.
And finally, examining unconscious biases can increase productivity. Many biases hold people back, because they don’t believe in themselves, or in the people they work with. People are more productive when they have faith in each other and trust their own decisions.
MARY: Doesn't Philip have kids, too? I just wonder if it's fair to assume that Janice won't work hard.
LISA: Hmm…I guess you're right. When I think about it, I worked just as hard as I do now when my kids were babies.
HOST: Not only is Janice a great candidate, but she'll also bring diversity to Lisa's team, and offer new perspectives that can drive innovation.
When you challenge your unconscious biases and think things through instead, you have a much better chance of making good decisions, for yourself and for your organization.
Let's review what you learned in this course. To understand unconscious biases in the workplace, be aware of biases based on assumptions related to gender, employee performance, and values; identify confirmation bias and its symptoms; recognize the different biases that can result from fixation; and challenge your biases so that you can bring diversity, innovation, and productivity to your organization.
After completing this topic, you should be able to
Recognizing unconscious bias in the workplace is the first step to avoiding its harmful results.
In this exercise, you'll demonstrate that you can
What three statements about unconscious bias are accurate?
Options:
Option 1: This is a correct option. An unconscious bias is an assumption you're unaware you're making about a category of people.
Option 2: This is a correct option. Bias evolved as part of our survival instinct, but it can lead you to make incorrect assumptions.
Option 3: This is an incorrect option. We all have biases. The challenge is to become more aware of them.
Option 4: This is an incorrect option. Bias evolved as a way to help you make quick decisions, but they're not always good decisions.
Option 5: This option is correct. Everyone has biases that they use constantly. They provide a way to evaluate information quickly, though that doesn't always lead to the right conclusions.
Correct answer(s):
What four situations indicate unconscious bias being exhibited in the workplace?
Options:
Option 1: This option is correct. Judging someone based entirely upon a first impression, even if later evidence contradicts it, is an example of an unconscious bias known as Diagnosis bias.
Option 2: When someone is treated differently based on their gender, it’s called gender bias. This type of bias can show itself in something as significant as a pay gap or something as simple as speaking differently to different genders around the watercooler.
Option 3: This option is correct. When you encounter someone who doesn’t conform to your expectations, like dressing more casually than you’re used to, you may view it as unprofessional or sloppy. This then influences all your subsequent interactions. This is known as value attribution bias.
Option 4: This option is correct. Assuming that someone is receiving preferential treatment due to characteristics like race or gender is called performance bias. It’s the assumption that Ken was only promoted because of being from a minority group and not based upon his work performance.
Option 5: This option is incorrect. Erica’s congratulations to Simon don’t indicate unconscious bias. There is no reason to think that she views his former struggles with presentation as being related to his personal characteristics.
Option 6: This option is incorrect. In and of itself, suggesting food from a fusion restaurant for a lunch meeting in no way indicates an unconscious bias.
Correct answer(s):
What are three examples of how unconscious biases can show themselves at work?
Options:
Option 1: This option is correct. Many people unconsciously seek out only sources or information that support what they already believe to be true. This is called confirmation bias. It usually involves ignoring information that contradicts their pre-existing beliefs.
Option 2: This option is correct. One of the most frustrating aspects of bias is that many people unconsciously begin to conform to negative stereotypes of their own racial, ethnic, gender, or cultural group. This is called stereotype threat and it can undermine performance and careers.
Option 3: This option is correct. It is a temptation for many people to continue on with a set plan of action even when strong evidence indicates that it isn’t working. Called commitment confirmation, this type of bias happens when people go to extremes to appear consistent with something they have already committed to.
Option 4: This option is incorrect. It’s not showing bias to help someone improve their skill set, especially at their request. Wanting to boost your performance and career is a common goal for most people and helping them overcome obstacles doesn’t indicate any sort of bias.
Option 5: This option is incorrect. While many would stop looking once their initial research suggested their idea was sound, Martin is actually fighting against what’s often called confirmation bias. In his case, he wants to make sure that he has a full picture of all of the thoughts and opinions about the subject.
Correct answer(s):
Fixation biases arise from preconceived ideas formed about a person, group of people, or situation.
What four examples indicate a fixation bias?
Options:
Option 1: This option is correct. Making assumptions about a person based on a single, initial interaction is a type of fixation bias known as primacy bias. No single incident can fully display what someone is actually like.
Option 2: This option is correct. Accepting a low offer simply because it's higher than the first offer is an example of a fixation bias known as anchoring. This happens when someone relies too heavily on the first piece of information they receive about a situation or person.
Option 3: This option is correct. Being swayed by a single opinion without taking other factors into consideration is known as attentional bias. This happens when someone allows one factor to outweigh other considerations.
Option 4: This option is correct. Mistrust of the team despite its long-term success shows recency bias. This is a type of fixation bias in which when people judge things based on their most recent impressions, rather than considering the entire situation.
Option 5: This option is incorrect. By considering the team's performance over a long period, Akira is actually mitigating against showing a recency bias.
Option 6: This option is incorrect. By giving all ideas equal consideration, Jennifer is, in fact, guarding against the possibility of primacy or anchoring biases when making her decision.
Correct answer(s):
What are three key benefits of addressing unconscious bias in the workplace?
Options:
Option 1: This is a correct option. By helping people think differently about hiring and holding onto different types of people, you can enrich your organization.
Option 2: This is a correct option. Tackling unconscious bias can help people to be more open to possibilities, so they can think outside the box.
Option 3: This is a correct option. When people have faith in each other, they work better. Unconscious bias can often cause mistrust and lack of faith, so addressing it can lead to a more productive workforce.
Option 4: This is an incorrect option. Discrimination can lead to lawsuits in extreme cases, but not always. The severest cases are not the only kinds of unconscious bias that need to be addressed.
Option 5: This is an incorrect option. Addressing unconscious bias can help you retain talented staff, but you can't guarantee that nobody will ever leave your company.
Correct answer(s):
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