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Refers to the mental shortcuts our brains take to simplify the world, especially when we’re under pressure. Such snap judgments about people can lead to harmful and unjust outcomes. And everyone with a brain has unconscious biases: to pretend you don’t doesn’t make them go away, it only prevents you from doing anything to counteract them. And people can and do have unconscious biases against their own groups.
Check Your Unconscious Biases
You can test your own unconscious biases using the well-known Harvard Implicit Association Test.
Effects of Unconscious Bias
The collected results of the Implicit Association Test demonstrate that, for example, 76% of participants associate men with careers and women with family. That means that 76% of hiring managers are more likely to associate a male candidate with the job they’re hiring for than a female candidate, all qualifications being equal. And that 76% of bosses are more likely to associate a male employee with a promotion than a female employee, even if they’re equally qualified. It’s easy to see, then, how unconscious, unintentional biases can result in unfair, unjust outcomes.
Similarly, 75% of participants showed an unconscious preference for white people over Black people. It isn’t hard to imagine the effects of this when it comes to hiring and promotions as well, contributing to “wage gaps.” According to the Department of Labor, women earn only 84% of what men do, and Black workers earn only 76% of what white workers do.
What We Can Do to Counteract Them
Being aware of your biases does not make them have less effect. To overcome bias, we need to take concrete steps to counteract it.
- Remove markers of race and gender from selection processes (so-called “blind” auditions and resume reviews)
Gender-Based Biases
Performance Bias
We tend to underestimate women’s performance and overestimate men’s performance. As a result, women are hired based on actual accomplishments, while men are hired based on future potential. So women have to accomplish more than men just to be seen as equals. Research has shown that:
- When orchestras that switch to blind auditions, women are 50% more likely to make it past the first round
- When a woman’s name on a resume is replaced by a man’s, the odds of being hired increase 60%
Attribution Bias
Likeability Bias
Maternal Bias
Affinity Bias
Further Learning
- LeanIn.org has free training