Embracing Others: Recognizing Unconscious Bias Presented by: Dr. Leslie Crickenberger, Ms. Libby Gays, Mr. Thomas Heard
Unconscious Bias Session # 2
Unconscious Bias Read the colors of the following text out loud. The cat is sleeping. The cat is sleeping. The cat is sleeping. The cat is sleeping. Session #6 3
Unconscious Bias Read the colors of the following text out loud. Grass Stop Sign Water Grapes Session #6 4
Unconscious Bias Read the colors of the following text out loud. Green Red Blue Purple Session #6 5
Unconscious Bias Read the colors of the following text out loud. Green Red Blue Purple Session #6 6
Unconscious Bias Our minds operate through schemas or categories Schemas are templates or knowledge that help us organize and interpret our world into broad categories. Environment and experience provide context to our schemas (i.e. media, culture, etc.) Implicit bias is developed from our schemas Schemas we use to categorize people are called stereotypes Having biases towards individuals does not make you prejudiced; it makes you human Session #6 7
Understanding Unconscious Bias A poll of Fortune 500 companies discovered that: 58% of their CEOs were males over six feet tall Only 14.5% of males are over six feet tall in the general population The stereotype of what a leader should look like affects our decisions on who to hire/promote and may exclude other characteristics. Session #6 8
Unconscious Bias We receive over 40 million pieces of information every second. Our brain can only process a small portion of information per second 99.725% of that information is processed with our unconscious brain Session #6 9
Understanding Unconscious Bias Happens automatically Trigger by brain making quick interpretation from a set of rules or schemas Applies shortcuts/rules to situations where it may not be appropriate Session #6 10
Understanding Unconscious Bias May lead a person to act in a way that is at conflict with their intentions Stereotype Threat (Claude Steele) If an instructor tells the students that their Asian students perform better on the test than the White students. Whites will perform significant worse than if they had not been primed to think of themselves as less capable. Session #6 11
Unconscious Bias in the Workplace Unconscious Bias Bias Session #6 12
Understanding Unconscious Bias What We Know. Unconscious Bias is a normal human response Everyone has biases; stereotypes are human nature Occurs every day and in every facet of our work lives IF IT S NORMAL AND ALL ENCOMPASSING, WHY SHOULD WE CARE? Session # 13
Understanding Unconscious Bias Lilly Ledbetter and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Her salary = $44,727/yr. Other managers = $51,432/yr. - $62,832/yr. Consistently received poor evaluations and lower raise amounts than her male counterparts Jury awarded $3.5 million; district judge reduced to $350,000 Ultimately, the award was reversed and complaint dismissed Unconscious Bias can lead to costly litigation! Session #6 14
Understanding Unconscious Bias Dukes v. Wal-Mart Class action lawsuit of 1.5 million female employees 72% of Sales Force were female Only 1/3 of Management was female Ultimately dismissed after 11 years Unconscious Bias can lead to costly litigation! Session #6 15
Understanding Unconscious Bias Weatherly v. Alabama State University Awarded $1,039,119.30 Salaita v. University of Illinois Settled for $875,000; $1.3 million total cost Cleavenger v. University of Oregon Settled for $1 million Tappmeyer v. University of North Florida Settled for $1.25 million Session # 16
Match Game 1. College Student 6. Stay at Home Parent 2. Parent Teacher Association Meeting 7. U. S. Military Service Personnel 3. Governor of a U.S. State 8. CEO of Fortune 500 Company 4. U.S. Secretary of Labor 9. Convicted Felon 5. Olympic Weight Lifter 10. Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting Session #6
College Student College students are no longer just young adults graduating from high school. Session # 6 18
Parent Teacher Association Meeting This is not the PTA I remember from my childhood. Session # 6 19
Governor of Texas Governor Abbott became the 2 nd governor to be elected who uses a wheelchair. The first was George Wallace from Alabama. Session # 6 20
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao served as the 24 th U.S. Secretary of Labor from 2001 to 2009. She was born in Taiwan. She was the first Asian American woman in U.S. history to be appointed to a U.S. president s cabinet. Session # 6 21
Olympic Weight Lifter Amna Al Haddad is a 26-year old, female, Arab, Muslim competitive weightlifter. Session # 6 22
Stay at Home Parent John Adams is a stay at home dad with 2 small children. His blog dadbloguk.com talks about his adventures and challenges running the household. Session # 6 23
U.S. Military Service Personnel In 1999 the Pentagon started hosting the Iftar dinner for our Muslim service personnel. This dinner is during the month Ramadan and shows support to our thousands of Muslim service members and their families. Session # 6 24
CEO of Fortune 500 Company Don Thompson is an engineer and business executive who was the President and CEO of McDonalds from 2012 until 2015. Session # 6 25
Convicted Felon Nina Porter has been in and out of prison five times. The increase in the number of women per 100,000 in the U.S. being incarcerated since 1972 has risen 1017%. Most women in prison are also moms. Session # 6 26
Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting AA is an international fellowship that is nonprofessional, selfsupporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Session # 6 27
Reducing Unconscious Bias Self assess yourself. Take an Implicit Association Test (IAT) Keep a journal on your initial thoughts after meeting people Explore any learned biases by talking with someone you trust Session #6 28
Reducing Unconscious Bias Focus on measureable outcomes. Ensure tasks are measureable Use SMART goals Assess your AAP and determine deliverable results Session #6 29
Reducing Unconscious Bias Hold others accountable. Create a culture of recognizing and calling out unconscious bias Make employees justify decisions with facts Make decisions collectively; collaborate Evaluate subtle clues that indicate a bias is present Session #6 30
Reducing Unconscious Bias Minimize Risk. Conduct structured interviews with at least 2 scorers Analyze your employee action data (i.e. promotions, hires, performance evaluations) and share the results Educate managers on unconscious bias Conduct checks prior to taking any employment action Am I making this decision for the right reason? Does this adversely impact an employee? Is the employee in a protected category? Session #6 31
Thank You Dr. Leslie Crickenberger Associate Vice President for Human Resources lcrickenberger@tntech.edu Ms. Libby Gays Director for Affirmative Action egays@tntech.edu Mr. Thomas Heard Assistant Director for Human Resources theard@tntech.edu Please complete the online evaluation form for this session. CUPA-HR will e-mail session evaluations to you today. Embracing Others: Recognizing Unconscious Bias 32