What is implicit bias?
Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These are influenced by experience and are based on learned associations between various qualities and social categories, including gender.
The National Women’s Law Center offers this advice in training individuals to recognize implicit bias: “A well-designed training should focus not only on participants’ perceptions or attitudes, but also on behavior. It should demonstrate how implicit bias arises in everyday interactions relevant to that specific workplace, and offer concrete actions for identifying and correcting for bias.”
Take the Test:
Select the "Gender-Career IAT." This test often reveals a relative link between family and females and between career and males.
This test measures the association between gender and career according to implicit attitudes of the two categories. The speed with which one answers the questions helps measure the degree of bias one has. It is important to note that women hold many of the same biases as men, and we are all acculturated similarly and influenced by societal norms. Seeing people in leadership positions creates perceptions of who those leaders should look like. Becoming more aware of these implicit biases can help us overcome them and, in the case of a hiring process, can help employers assess the qualifications of the applicants free of stereotypes.
Test Background:
- Regardless of the test, implicit bias will always exist.
- This test acknowledges the biases, but you need to work to change your behaviors.
- Review tips on removing bias from the hiring process. (3 min)