Implicit Bias

Leadership presentation - Lab 102 Nov 2013

Starting with a narrative

What is Implicit Bias?

! Definition: An evaluation or association that is outside our consciousness toward something or someone ! Why? Humans have a tendency to organize people and objects in the world in broad categories
Source: Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research-2/understanding-implicit-bias/

Why Do We Care? Effects of Implicit Racial Bias

! Negatively affects decision-making ! Distorts policy-making and implementation ! Reinforces discrimination ! Leads to societal inequities

IAT: Implicit Bias Test Methodology

! Self assessment of racial bias ! Measurement of strength of association between concepts and evaluations or stereotypes through time response

Berkeley and National Results

Agenda
! Introduction and definition ! Research on implicit bias
How does it manifest, and what are the implications?

! Policy solutions
What can we do about it?

! Q&A and feedback cards

Research on Implicit Bias

Research on Implicit Bias

! Existence and impact of implicit bias studied in many sectors: education, criminal justice, employment, health care, etc. ! School-to-prison pipeline ! Education ! Criminal Justice

Dialect and Implicit Racial Bias

! 1996: Oakland School Board passes resolution recognizing legitimacy of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) aka Ebonics ! Mandated classroom instruction in AAVE ! Provided funding to help teachers learn AAVE ! Oaklands Rationale ! Example: AAVE pronunciation of the word build is buil. Teachers marked students as not understanding verb tense. ! Referrals to academic intervention services due to misunderstanding of AAVE pronunciations.

Public Response

! Rev. Jesse Jackson this is an unacceptable

surrender, bordering on disgrace.

! New York Times: by labeling them as linguistic

foreigners in their own country, the new policy will actually stigmatize African-American childrenwhile validating habits of speech that bar them from the cultural mainstream and decent jobs.

Dialects and Implicit Bias

Cross et. al. (2001): Research Question: What implicit bias do teachers have of student dialects?
! Subjects: 111 Black and White teachers ! Study Design: ! Teachers listened to male speakers read an emotionally neutral passage in the following dialects: ! Standard English (SE) White and Black Readers ! AAVE Black Reader ! Southern Rural (e.g. thrown) White Reader ! Teachers asked to rate the reader on several personality traits such as: ! Intelligence ! Trustworthiness ! Social Status

Dialects and Implicit Bias

! White and Black teachers across personality traits gave: ! Highest ratings to Standard English Speakers ! Rated White Standard English Speakers higher than Black Standard English Speakers ! Same ratings for honesty ! Lowest ratings to Southern Rural speakers ! Highest in honesty by White Teachers ! Black speakers were rated higher by Black teachers than White teachers and vice versa

Dialects and Implicit Bias

! Conclusions: ! Teachers make assumptions about student ability and personality solely based on dialect. ! Assumptions vary by race of teacher. ! No matter race of teacher, negative bias toward nonStandard English Speakers.

Teacher-Student Interactions and Race

! Middle school classroom interactions monitored and inventoried: type of contact with student, quality of student response, feedback given (Casteel, 1998) ! Research results: ! African-American students received more negative interactions ! Caucasian students praised more, received more positive feedback, given more clues. ! Implications for student performance

Implicit Bias and Teacher Expectations

! !
Large body of research that supports the link between teacher expectations and student performance. Mechanism: Expectations affect teachers moment-tomoment interactions.

Criminal Justice System

Judicial Decision-Making
Rachlinski et. Al. (2009) Research Question: Do judges hold implicit biases and how does that affect their decisions? ! Self-reported ability to avoid racial prejudice in decision-making: ! 97% of the judges placed themselves in the top half ! 50% placed themselves in the top quartile ! IAT Testing: ! 87.1% of white judges had a white preference ! Black judges had no clear preference ! Effect on Decision-making: ! Implicit versus explicit priming

Findings
! !
Judges carry implicit biases concerning race. Implicit biases can affect judges judgment, at least in contexts where judges are unaware of a need to monitor their decisions for racial bias. When judges are aware of a need to monitor their own responses for the influence of implicit racial biases, and are motivated to suppress that bias, they appear able to do so.

Policy Solutions

Acknowledge Social Differences

! !

Avoid a colorblind approach Consciously adopt a multicultural approach

Jack Glaser, GSPP

Create Accountable Leadership

! Lead by example ! Active recruitment of diverse workforce ! Ensure hiring practices are unbiased ! Use concrete criteria

Develop Substantive Feedback Mechanisms

! ! ! !
Allow employees to evaluate their peers and supervisors Offer third-party channel for employee complaints such as an ombudsman Utilize anonymous surveys to gauge whether implicit bias is already prevalent Example: Launch an equity study to ensure that employees education/experience levels are appropriately compensated

What Can We Do Now as Leaders?

Individual: ! Be aware of our own biases ! Expose ourselves to more diverse cultures by actively seeking out diverse environments ! Exercise multicultural perspective-taking ! Seek out counter-examples to stereotypes In the workplace: ! Make sure your employers are working actively towards inclusion ! Foster a diverse workforce and multicultural perspective

Questions and Answers

For further information visit: implicitracialbias.tumblr.com