Unconscious Bias is not racist.

What is unconscious bias? 

Bias is a prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another usually in a way that’s considered to be unfair. Biases may be held by an individual, group, or institution and can have negative or positive consequences.

There are types of biases

Conscious bias (also known as explicit bias) and

Unconscious bias (also known as implicit bias)

As a person who is passionate about supporting, building, and maintaining teams with the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion I can personally say it's the responsibility of the company to double-check the work and effectiveness of its management. Stop asking employees to hit the ground running, we were not born on an assembly line to imitate the work done by others around us. Train us adequately to do the work requested within a time frame acceptable to that field but don't compare us. This might mean taking a different approach than what you're used too. Issue: Stop leaving it up to us to figure it out. We need support from people who look and think like us. That's why it's important to, not be the only minority in your profession and field at a company.

In her book Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion Dollar Business, author Pamela Newkirk looks at how misguided diversity initiatives have done little to create equality in America's major industries and institutions. Here are her tips for navigating a workplace as one of the few or only Black women:

Feel power in numbers. Many industries have employee resource groups and associations specifically for women or Black employees. “Join industry organizations and look for ways to become more knowledgeable about the field you’re in,” Newkirk advises. Build a base of peers who not only understand the work you do and can offer support in your career journey, but can relate to how Blackness and/or womanhood impacts it.

Find a mentor — and speak up. As you aim for higher career heights, it’s never too late to find a mentor to help you. “Mentoring is among the most effective ways to facilitate the success of employees, including those from marginalized groups,” explains Newkirk. “Although it would be ideal for managers to see to it that new employees are mentored, sometimes you as a person of color have to be the one to break the ice by reaching out and asking for guidance.” Developing a work relationship with someone who has helpful knowledge and connections is a wise move to navigate the ups and downs of your job.

Keep your own file. Whether for a positive or negative career development, “always keep records of correspondence: letters of praise, agreements, et cetera. You never know when you'll need a paper trail,” says Newkirk. Follow up on in-person conversations by sending a recap email to ensure you have a record of items and issues discussed, and save everything. If you ever have to prove that yes, you did ask for help or yes, your boss was dismissive of your concerns, you’ll have something to back up your claim





It is important to note that biases, conscious or unconscious, are not limited to ethnicity and race. Though racial bias and discrimination are well documented, biases may exist toward any social group. One’s age, gender, gender identity physical abilities, religion, sexual orientation, weight, and many other characteristics are subject to bias.


Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.

Unconscious bias is far more prevalent than conscious prejudice and often incompatible with one’s conscious values. Certain scenarios can activate unconscious attitudes and beliefs. For example, biases may be more prevalent when multi-tasking or working under time pressure.

Over the last three decades, findings from neurology and social and cognitive psychology show that unconscious bias, also know as implicit bias, influences the way we see and treat others.


This work has revealed the following:

Everyone posses unconscious biases.

These unconscious biases are often incompatible with our conscious values, and

Certain scenarios, such as multitasking and working under time constraints can activate these biases.

As you can imagine, trying to assess one’s unconscious preferences poses unique challenges; however, researchers have developed instruments to assess unconscious bias.


One of the most widely studied is the Implicit Association Test or I.A.T. Using the IAT and other assessments to measure implicit cognition, researchers have explored the impact of unconscious bias on several domains including housing, education, criminal justice, health & health care and employment.

For example, there is overwhelming scientific evidence that unconscious bias may influence the evaluation and selection of candidates in all types of organizations. Furthermore, unconscious bias may have an impact on compensation and mentoring relationships.


In addition to assessing and exploring the impact of unconscious bias in various domains, social scientists have developed strategies to mitigate the impact of unconscious bias.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/unconscious-bias