unconscious bias: a brief introduction

Unconscious bias A brief introduction

Seán L. Stickle Chief Communications & Diversity OfficerPhysician Assistant Education Association

What is unconscious bias?

* *

“I’m not biased.” —Everyone

behavior vs intention

systematic irrationality

Unconscious Bias A bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment, and personal experiences. Unconscious Bias and Higher Education Equality Challenge Unit (2013)

Implicit Bias Refers to the same area, but questions the level to which these biases are unconscious especially as we are being made increasingly aware of them. Once we know that biases are not always explicit, we are responsible for them. Unconscious Bias and Higher Education Equality Challenge Unit (2013)

“Your heritage is being vandalized every day by theft losses of petrified wood of 14 tons a year, mostly a small piece at a time.”

First Rule of Bias Club Talk About Bias

Second Rule of Bias Club Prevent Bias

How is unconscious bias relevant to PA educators?

Making biased decisions affects the recruitment and selection of staff and students, and the ability of those staff and students to achieve their full potential. Unconscious Bias and Higher Education Equality Challenge Unit (2013)

Double Jeopardy? Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science Joan C. Williams, Katherine W. Phillips, Erika V. Hall (2014)

Exercise Stereotyping

Steve is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful, but with little interest in people, or in the world of reality.

A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and structure, and a passion for detail.

Steve is a…

1. librarian

2. farmer

Janelle is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Janelle is a…

1. bank teller

2. bank teller & active in the feminist movement

Exercise Stereotyping

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red yellow green blue red

blue yellow

red yellow green blue red

blue yellow

Implicit Association Test

What purpose does unconscious bias serve & why do we have it?

10,000,000 bits/sec Retinal nerve

40 bits/sec Conscious mind "Neurophysiology of Sensory Systems”Manfred Zimmermann (1986)

Exercise Inattentional Blindness

Exercise Inattentional Blindness

Schemas Implicit and habitual ways of organizing information about how we experience the world.

pareidolia

We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.

—Anaïs Nin (1961)

What kinds of unconscious bias are there?

System 1: Reflex fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious

System 2: Reflective slow, effortful, infrequent,logical, calculating, conscious

System 1: Reflex fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious

System 2: Reflective slow, effortful, infrequent,logical, calculating, conscious

System 1: Reflex fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious

System 2: Reflective slow, effortful, infrequent,logical, calculating, conscious

heuristic vs algorithm

COST Corner-cutting Objectivism Self-protection Time & Money

Corner-cutting Mental shortcuts that help us make quick and efficient decisions

Objectivism The implicit belief that our perceptions, beliefs, understanding, and experiences are objectively true.

Self-protection We are motivated to feel good about ourselves and the groups we belong to

Time & Money Negative information is more salient than positive, and we value things more that are closer to us

What are the effects of unconscious bias — both positive and negative?

Ego Depletion/Decision Fatigue When judges make repeated rulings, they show an increased tendency to rule in favor of the status quo. This tendency can be overcome by taking a break to eat a meal. “Extraneous factors in judicial decisions” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011

What can I do about unconscious bias as a PA faculty member?

behavior vs intention

1. Diversify Engage with “other” people & find positive role models

2. Slow down You move too fast

The reflex brain stereotypes, even in people who considernon-discrimination as one of their main values and who sincerely and consciously practice this belief.

BrainChains, Theo Compernolle (2014)

In designing bias-countering processes and practices, encourage those that place a premium on cognitive effort over intuition or gut instinct.

“Beyond Bias,” Strategy+BusinessHeidi Grant Halvorson & David Rock (2015)

Individual cognitive effort is not enough. You have to cultivate an organization-wide culture in which people continually remind one another that the brain’s default setting is egocentric.

“Beyond Bias,” Strategy+BusinessHeidi Grant Halvorson & David Rock (2015)

Interviewing 1. Write down your initial impressions 2. Reorient your attitudes based on

impressions 3. Write down your closing impressions 4. Confer with others

3. Poka yoke ( ) Make the right thing easy Make the wrong thing hard

Unconscious Bias A brief introduction

Seán L. Stickle Chief Communications & Diversity OfficerPhysician Assistant Education Association

Unconscious Bias A brief introduction

Seán L. Stickle Chief Communications & Diversity OfficerPhysician Assistant Education Association