What is unconscious bias?
We could try and make the answer to this question sound flowery and appealing, but Imperial College says it perfectly.
“Unconscious (or implicit) bias is a term that describes the associations we hold, outside our conscious awareness and control. Unconscious bias affects everyone.”
Firstly, and this is really important: do not beat yourself up about this. It might affect everyone, but to an extent, we really can’t help it until we are aware of it. Unconscious bias is developed through so many external factors that we can’t help. Did you grow up in a certain culture or a subculture within a culture? Maybe you’ve had a particularly bad personal experience with something or someone or a certain place? The list can go on and on.
Associations such as this can all affect our thought and judgement process when it comes to the hiring process from start to finish. Whilst this is undoubtedly a bad thing and counterproductive to creating a diverse workplace, until you have taken a step back and really thought about your hiring processes, it might not be something that you are even aware is taking place.
So what can you do about it?
The good news is that in terms of hiring, some of the solutions are really simple. ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in the UK, gives some quick and simple solutions. Have one of the interview panel on the phone to eliminate physical bias, having a diverse and varied team sifting through applicants to eliminate any initial biases in applications, and holding back on some details on job application forms such as gender and names.
The bad news is that, alongside these quick fixes, that bias may well remain. Unfortunately, the ongoing training in regards to unconscious bias can also be a bit of a minefield. Certainly, at least, the opinions surrounding it are.
Ongoing work
As someone who hires, however, you can take a look and work on some simple types of biases that you might see in your own processes.
The biases that are most common, can be boiled down to the following:
- Affinity (or similarity) Bias – a bias towards someone who is similar to you. Do they look like you, are they from the same background, do they like the same things you do?
- Confirmation Bias – a bias that focuses on similar beliefs. Perhaps the person has the same belief set as you do? In extreme cases you might unconsciously disregard any information contrary to what you believe, despite it being incredibly useful or important.
- The Halo Effect – this is when a trait that we deem to be positive masks everything negative about someone, in effect giving them a halo. The opposite of this is called the “Horn Effect”.
Now, this may all seem daunting, and to be frank, it may be uncomfortable when being confronted about it from an external trainer or organisation or someone internal to the company you work for. However, we as humans are community-driven, and being uncomfortable is when we can excel and grow as individuals.
If we can take a bit of discomfort and make the workplace a more appealing and fairer arena for everyone involved, our communities will benefit, as will the company that we work for. That is why exploring what we can do to make things better for everyone is crucial and a no-brainer.
