How Unconscious Bias Affects Your Work, Whether You Know It or Not

4 min

Unconscious bias happens when we make assumptions about someone based on the group they belong to.


It's often based on stereotypes we've absorbed, and can lead us to make unfair decisions that go against our consciously-held beliefs.

Unconscious bias affects everyone’s decision making.

And it affects your work.

Unconscious bias can creep in

any time you make a decision about how you interact with a person.

For example, the professors in the study had unconsciously decided that

 white men were more suited to work with them than everyone else,

 even though they may have consciously believed that everyone deserved an equal chance. 

Here's another example: if you are in charge of hiring,

unconscious bias may affect who you choose to give an interview or an offer to,

even if you work hard to be objective.

Or if you decide what projects or assignments your team members work on,

you may unconsciously assign less interesting work to minority team members.

But unconscious bias also affects smaller decisions,

like who gets face time with a boss, or even who you spend time with. Or something as small as assuming that an older employee needs “help” with their computer.

Think about it: Who do you get lunch with at work? Who do you invite to happy hour? Is it people who look like you?

You probably don’t want to treat people unfairly.

But no matter your intentions, or what group you belong to, unconscious bias affects the way you work with people.

Becoming aware of the fact that you have bias is the first step in treating people more fairly.

The more you are aware of the fact of bias, the easier it is to interrupt it.

Time for a quiz.

Oliver is a flight attendant. Which of the following duties at his job is the most likely opportunity for unconscious bias to creep in?

Quiz 1 of 1

Which of the following duties is the most likely opportunity for unconscious bias to affect Oliver’s work?

a
Cleaning the cabin between flights
b
Making sure the cabin conforms to FAA regulations
c
Assisting passengers in loading their baggage into overhead bins
d
Preparing reports on flight incidents

The correct answer is C.

Assisting passengers in loading their baggage into overhead bins.

While unconscious bias can happen anywhere,

it’s most likely in moments when you make decisions about who you will interact with.

Oliver could choose to assist certain passengers based on biases he doesn’t even know about.

Consider this:

In what ways does unconscious bias affect your decision making?

Do you only hang out with people from one group? Do you listen

to people from one group more than people from others?

Do your behaviors go against your consciously-held beliefs

(for example, that you should have a diverse group of friends)?

How Unconscious Bias Affects Your Work, Whether You
Know It or Not –Video Transcript


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