Raise awareness. Provide unconscious bias training.
We are all biased. What can we do? The ALBA Declaration on Equity & Inclusion advises to commit to recognizing & counteracting bias, by raising awareness: provide unconscious bias training. This article provides useful tips & resources on best practices about raising awareness.
Issues
Efforts to promote equity, diversity and inclusion have not yet been fully realized. Many people still do not accept the idea that we all possess unconscious bias because sexism, racism and other “-isms” are entrenched systematically in institutions and societies governed and financed by a dominant group. An integrated approach throughout the institution and the learning life cycle is the only way to tackle this invisible obstacle effectively.
Suggested actions
- Require and provide unconscious bias training for all interview panel members / decision makers / faculty, but….
- Don’t rely on training alone, especially where it is only a ‘one-off’ session.
- Extend building inclusivity into curricula or the design of research programmes.
- Stimulate coherent ongoing conversations and interactions that lead to cultural change.
Resources
Data on bias in STEM:
- Science faculty’s subtle gender biases; Moss-Racusin et al., 2012, Yale University (US)
- A Gender Bias Habit-Breaking Intervention Led to Increased Hiring of Female Faculty in STEMM Departments; J Exp Soc Psychol
Examples of awareness campaigns or tools:
- Implicit Association Test; Harvard University (US)
- Disability awareness and planning for accessibility; Function Central
- What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions; Nature
- Raising Awareness of Neurodiversity in the Scientific Workplace; Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK)
- Responses to 10 Common Criticisms of Anti-Racism Action in STEM; Anti Racism in Stem
Examples of training:
- State of Science on Unconscious Bias; University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Unconscious bias workshops for high-level administrators level; Vanderbilt University (US)
- Prejudice against Women Leaders; Hoffmann & Musch, 2018, University of Duesseldorf (DE)
- Distinguish between Equity and Equality; SGBA Sex- and gender-based analysis (SGBA) Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, Nova Scotia (CA)
Examples of inclusive curricula:
- Inclusion in neuroscience through high impact courses; Neuroscience Letters
