Because cultural assumptions have been hard-wired into our brains, sometimes we utilize implicit bias without realizing it. To better understand when your brain might be unconsciously employing a bias, it might help to think about the first person that springs to your mind when you think about the following professions. Be honest and don’t feel the need to diversify your responses. Just write who first appears in your mind’s eye.
|
1. Doctor 2. Professor 3. Fashion Designer 4. Teacher 5. Tech Entrepreneur 6. Social Worker 7. Religious Leader 8. Actor 9. Politician 10. Nurse |
Questions to Consider:
- Is the person a particular race?
- What is the person’s gender?
- Is a sexual orientation assigned to this person?
- Is the person differently-abled?
- What assumptions did you find yourself making?
If your team would feel comfortable working through their implicit biases as a group, have individuals take an Implicit Association Test, or IAT: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/. Have everyone bring back their results to discuss with the group.
You can find other diversity training tools like this from the “Implicit Bias” Workshop within PaperClip’s 10 Campus Diversity Training Workshops guide.
