Eliminating unconscious bias

My introduction to unconscious bias came in 2010, when I had just become an equity partner at a US law firm. At a social gathering after work one evening, I told one of the attendees (a South Asian male lawyer) that I worked at a law firm—without specifying my designation. But he had automatically assumed that I, an Indian woman, could not be a lawyer in a law firm in the US, much less an equity partner.

Nearly a decade later, with some conscious work on my own perceptions and thoughts, I endeavour to create a workplace that is inclusive and, consequently, more productive, innovative, and happier.

The many forms of bias

Many studies, over the years, have shown that a diverse workforce outperforms a homogenous workforce. Yet, it is natural for a person’s decisions to be guided by their perceptions, preferences, and instinctive feelings—or, in short, biases. A bias can be conscious (explicit bias) or unconscious (implicit bias). Renee Navarro, vice chancellor of diversity and outreach at the University of Southern California, in an introduction to the university’s diversity initiative, defines unconscious bias as the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions.

A large body of compelling research has demonstrated how unconscious, automatically activated, and pervasive mental processes manifest across a variety of contexts. Author and gender equality advocate Kim Elsesser has opined, in an article titled ‘ Unequal Pay, Unconscious Bias, And What to Do About It’, that we become aware of these stereotypes at a young age, and, as adults, both men and women are likely to apply them.

Biases based on gender, age and religion are the most common and recognised forms of unconscious biases. However, there are other forms of bias that pervade workplaces and these must be addressed as well.

Some of these biases are as follows: