LMU's Implicit Bias Initiative, launched in October 2016, remains an essential focus for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Its primary objectives include the following:
- This goal is to help administrators, faculty, staff, and students achieve bias literacy by understanding how our minds work, the real-world implications of implicit biases on numerous aspects of people's daily lives, and evidence-based strategies for mitigating bias.
- To encourage administrators, faculty, staff, and students to use their new knowledge by engaging in intentional behavioral changes that reduce the activation and application of implicit bias.
- To change cultural norms across all components of LMU's environment, e., curricular and co-curricular programs, decision-making committees, hiring committees and task forces, classrooms, residence halls, athletic fields, and dining halls.
LMU's Definition of Implicit Bias
Both favorable and unfavorable attitudes are activated without awareness or intentional control and are different from and sometimes in contrast to explicit, self-reported beliefs.
A large body of social science evidence has shown that unconscious, automatically activated, and pervasive cognitive associations related to race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and other identities can impact decision-making and judgments without our awareness. These research findings have profound, far-reaching implications for individuals in various sectors.
These biases result from normal human cognitive processes and apply to everyone. They develop across the life course due to socialization and exposure to specific messages within a culture.
Implicit bias can affect behaviors and result in discrimination or the differential treatment of individuals based on their group membership. Implicit bias can also be internalized by those targeted and can affect their performance as well as their psychological and physical health.
As with attitudes generally, implicit bias is malleable, and new attitudes can be learned that replace or override previously learned associations.*
Many resources are available on Implicit Bias and its impact on individuals, the workplace, and society. Please use these resources as a guide to understanding Implicit Bias and to supplement the learning you receive from our student, staff, or faculty workshops.
To request an implicit bias facilitation, please fill out our form on Leo.
LMU's IB Task Force has developed a complete bibliography of helpful and informative to guide your research and understanding in addition to the following:
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Ngnoumen, Christelle T. (2019)
The Use of Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness in Mitigating Implicit Bias and Stereotype-Activated Behaviors.
Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.Kimberly D. Elsbach and Ileana Stigliani (2019)
New Information Technology and Implicit Bias.
AMP, 33, 185–206Keith Payne, Heidi A. Vuletich, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi (2019)
Historical roots of implicit bias in slavery.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jun 2019, 116 (24) 11693-11698; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818816116Rivers, A. M., Sherman, J. W., Rees, H. R., Reichardt, R., & Klauer, K. C. (2020).
On the Roles of Stereotype Activation and Application in Diminishing Implicit Bias.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(3), 349–364.Brownstein, M., Madva, A., and Gawronski, B. ( 2020)
Understanding Implicit Bias: Putting the Criticism into Perspective
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly -
The New York Times
- The Root of Implicit Bias
- How Your Brain Can trick You Into Trusting People
- Confronting Implicit Bias in the New York Police Department
- Should All Americans Receive Anti-Bias Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
- In Defense of Favoritism
- Hard Questions, Honest Answers
- How Serious Are You About Diversity Hiring?
- A Lab of Her Own Diversity in Job Interviews
- How Bias Training Works in One Campus Police Department
Other Notable Sites
- Trump, Implicit Bias, And The Dream Of Racial Progress - HuffPost
- VR Founder Wants to Gamify Empathy - Vice
- Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry - Southern Poverty Law Center
- Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide - Southern Poverty Law Center
- Fighting Implicit Bias - American Bar Association
- Helping Courts Address Implicit Bias - National Center for State Courts
- How to Overcome our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them -TEDxBeaconStreet
- Four Tools for Interrupting Implicit Bias -CRT and the Brain
- Is This How Discrimination Ends? - The Atlantic
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Below are articles and resources centering around teaching. All academic areas must reflect and acknowledge their implicit bias. These articles will help you learn to combat prejudice and remove it from your classroom.
- How the Best Bosses Interrupt Bias on Their Teams- Harvard Business Review
- Why Teachers Must Fight Their Own Implicit Biases- Education Week Teacher
- Checking Yourself for Bias in the Classroom- Teaching Tolerance
- Teacher Bias: The Elephant in the Classroom- The Graide Network
- When Implicit Bias Shapes Teacher Expectations- NeaToday
Yale's Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning has an excellent webpage for Awareness of Implicit Bias and other helpful information.
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Reasons to reduce personal biases:
- Create a more equitable society
- Eliminate prejudices against people or groups you didn't even know you had
- Recognizing your own biases is the first step in building strong relationships and communities
- Implicit Bias often differentiates from what one states, thinks, or feels they believe
- Biases almost always work to the detriment of the lower-status group
- Implicit biases are potent determinants of behavior
- Eliminating biases helps remove "ingroup" and "outgroup" stigma
- Reduce discrimination due to implicit biases
- Implicit biases are malleable; thus behaviors can be changed
Individual Strategies to Mitigate Implicit Bias
Deliberative, Conscious Processing Definition and Suggestions
Implicit bias occurs because of automatic thinking. Conscious, deliberative thinking minimizes and disrupts the link between implicit biases and overt actions. Review the information and consider how implicit bias(es) may influence decisions.
- Learn meditation techniques. Engage in mindfulness meditation as a way to slow down in general.
- Someone shares an experience that is unfamiliar or counters your own observations. You can ask questions to encourage dialogue and actively listen to others’ experiences. If you have a different interpretation of an event, share your view as an alternative, not as a challenge to another’s perspective.
- Ask yourself: "How would I feel if someone asked me that question?"
- Learn the history of communities different from yours.
Perspective Taking Definition and Suggestions
Perspective-taking increases empathy. Dialogue and communication with members from other groups create an inclusive culture. Engage in respectful dialogue and actively listen to different others’ points of view.
- Someone shares an experience that is unfamiliar or counters your own observations. You can ask questions to encourage dialogue and actively listen to others’ experiences. If you have a different interpretation of an event, share your view as an alternative, not as a challenge to another’s perspective.
- Ask yourself: "How would I feel if someone asked me that question?"
- Learn the history of communities different from yours.
Intergroup Contact Definition and Suggestions
Positive interaction with other groups’ members decreases the likelihood of biases being applied. Engage in activities that include individuals from diverse backgrounds. Interact with members of groups with which one does not usually come into regular contact.
- Attend functions that celebrate various social identities and ethnic groups.
- Make it a point to meet and befriend people different from you.
This content was adapted from the following sources:
Carnes, M., et al. (2015). The effect of an intervention to break the gender bias habit for faculty at one institution: A cluster randomized, controlled trial. Academic Medicine, 90, 221-230.
Corrice, A. Unconscious bias in faculty and leadership recruitment: A literature review. (2009, August). Analysis in Brief. Retrieved from https://www.aamc.org/download/102364/data/aibvol9no2.pdf
Devine, P. G., Forscher, P. S., Austin, A. J., & Cox, W. T. L. (2012). Long-term reduction in implicit race bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(6), 1267–1278. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.06.003
Google (2016). Google's Unconscious Bias @ Work Facilitator Guide. Retrieved from https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/unbiasing-hold-everyone-accountable/steps/give-your-own-unbiasing-workshop/
Handout prepared by Drs. Adam Fingerhut and Nora A. Murphy, Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University 2017.
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Allow ample time for decision-making
Conscious, deliberative thinking is a powerful tool that can minimize and disrupt the link between implicit biases and overt actions. It's crucial to provide time for this critical decision-making process.
Decision-making suggestions
- Schedule meetings with adequate time.
- Do not make important decisions in the heat of the moment.
Consider the organizational environment
Subtle messages could be conveyed via physical and social environments.
Environment suggestions
- Evaluate physical environments with attention towards reducing subtle messages that convey stereotypes.
- Create environments to encourage intergroup contact.
Require accountability
Having individuals, programs, and departments accountable for their decision-making disrupts the link between implicit biases and overt actions.
Accountability suggestions
- Establish evaluation procedures that require individuals, programs, committees, and departments to report their decision-making processes.
- Remind people they may be called on to explain their actions and decisions.
Collect and analyze data
Document patterns and outcomes over time to uncover successful and unsuccessful strategies.
Data Suggestions
- Have assessment procedures to evaluate program outcomes.
- Participate in assessment surveys and activities. Attend sessions reporting results.
Conduct structured interview processes
Setting criteria beforehand helps reduce the possibility of implicit bias affecting candidates. Set criteria to assess job skills needed for successful job performance.
Interview process suggestions
- Train interviewers on how to conduct structured interviews.
- Assess new hiring procedures to measure the effectiveness of interview strategies.
Create an inclusive environment and increase implicit bias awareness
An open dialogue environment encourages communication. Increased bias literacy reduces potential bias effects. Create an open culture where individuals can acknowledge their biases and respond to others’ biases.
Awareness suggestions
- Encourage dialogue across units, departments, etc.
- Provide education about implicit bias processes and how to reduce their effects.
Content was adapted from the following sources:
Carnes, M., et al. (2015). The effect of an intervention to break the gender bias habit for faculty at one institution: A cluster randomized, controlled trial. Academic Medicine, 90, 221-230.
Corrice, A. Unconscious bias in faculty and leadership recruitment: A literature review. (2009, August). Analysis in Brief. Retrieved from https://www.aamc.org/download/102364/data/aibvol9no2.pdf
Devine, P. G., Forscher, P. S., Austin, A. J., & Cox, W. T. L. (2012). Long-term reduction in implicit race bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(6), 1267–1278. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.06.003
Google (2016). Google's Unconscious Bias @ Work Facilitator Guide. Retrieved from https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/unbiasing-hold-everyone-accountable/steps/give-your-own-unbiasing-workshop/
Prepared by Drs. Adam Fingerhut and Nora A. Murphy, Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University 2017.
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General Information:
- Unconscious Bias: How It Affects Us More than We Know - Forbes
- Is Unconscious Bias Training Useful? - Quality Interactions
- 6 Actions to Mitigate Implicit Bias - Root Inc.
Articles that highlight the effects of Implicit Bias in many different spaces of society:
- Missing Female CEO's
- Unconscious Bias: How It Affects Us More than We Know
- Pregnancy Related Deaths
- Racial Media Bias
- White People are Raised to be Racially Illiterate
- Women Making Science Videos
- Yes You Have Implicit Biases, Too
- Our Hidden Prejudices, On Trial
- Admission Decisions
- How Search Committees Can See Bias in Themselves
- Biases Towards Disabilities
Other institutes and projects that have strong Implicit Bias programming:
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The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures the strength of associations between concepts and evaluations or stereotypes to reveal an individual’s hidden or subconscious biases. This test was first published in 1998 by Project Implicit, and has since been continuously updated and enhanced. Project Implicit was founded by Tony Greenwald of the University of Washington, Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard University, and Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia. Project Implicit is a non-profit organization aimed at educating the public about hidden biases and providing a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet.
Take the Implicit Association Test
*References:
Aronson, J., & McGlone, M. S. (2009). Stereotype and social identity threat. In T. D. Nelson (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. (pp. 153-178). New York: Psychology Press.
Blair, I. V. (2002). The malleability of automatic stereotypes and prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 242-261.
Greenwald, A. G., & Krieger, L. H. (2006). Implicit bias: Scientific foundations. California Law Review, 94, 945-967.
McConnell, A. R., & Leibold, J.M. (2001). Relations among the Implicit Association Test, discriminatory behavior, and explicit measures of racial attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 435-442.
Nosek, B.A. (2007). Implicit-explicit relations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 65-69.
Staats, C. (2014). State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review. Kirwan Institute. Retrieved from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014-implicit-bias.pdf
Drafted by the LMU Implicit Bias Task Force 2016.