Bias & Microaggressions - Diversity | Equity | Inclusion Resources at Truman College

Bias | Prejudice; an inclination or preference, especially one that interferes with impartial judgment.

Confirmation Bias | People's tendency to gather and favor information that conforms to their existing expectations, beliefs, or hypotheses, often dismissing or failing to seek out evidence that disagrees; people's interpretation of information so that it confirms to their biases. (Also see APA).

Implicit Bias (also known as Unconscious Bias) | We are not always aware of our biases or how they affect others: "implicit bias is a form of bias that occurs automatically and unintentionally, that nevertheless affects judgments, decisions, and behaviors" (NIH.gov). Research has shown implicit bias can have serious real-life impacts (UCLA; scroll down on linked page for examples).

“Implicit Bias and Structural Racialization,” By Kathleen Osta & Hugh Vasquez, National Equity Project. Download full PDF

Micro-Aggressions | "Commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory [prejudicial] slights. These messages may be sent verbally, ("You speak good English"), non-verbally (clutching one's purse more tightly around people from certain race/ethnicity) or environmentally (symbols like the confederate flag or using Native American mascots). Such communications are usually outside the level of conscious awareness of perpetrators."

Micro-Affirmations | “...Apparently small acts, which are often ephemeral and hard-to-see, events that are public and private, often unconscious but very effective, which occur wherever people wish to help others to succeed.”

Books @ CCC

Print Books

Agarwal, P. (2020). Sway : unravelling unconscious bias. Bloomsbury Sigma. Experiments have shown that our brains categorize people by race in less than one-tenth of a second, about 50 milliseconds before determining sex. This means that we are labelling people by race and associating certain characteristics to them without even hearing them speak or getting to know them. This subtle cognitive process starts in the amygdala, the area of the brain associated with strong emotions. Does this mean that unconscious biases are hardwired into our brains as an evolutionary response, or do they emerge from assimilating information that we see around us? In Sway, author Pragya Agarwal uncovers the science behind our 'unintentional' biases. Using real world stories underpinned by scientific theories and research, this book unravels the way our unconscious biases are affecting the way we communicate, make decisions and perceive the world. A wide range of implicit biases are covered, including age-ism, sexism and aversive racism, and by using research and theories from a wide range of disciplines, including social science, psychology, biology and neuroscience, readers learn how these biases manifest and whether there is anything we can do about them. This book encourages readers to think, understand and evaluate their own biases in a scientific and non-judgmental way.

eBooks

Benson, T. A., & Fiarman, S. E. (2019). Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism. Harvard Education Press. In "Unconscious Bias in Schools," two seasoned educators describe the phenomenon of unconscious racial bias and how it negatively affects the work of educators and students in schools. "Regardless of the amount of effort, time, and resources education leaders put into improving the academic achievement of students of color," the authors write, "if unconscious racial bias is overlooked, improvement efforts may never achieve their highest potential." In order to address this bias, the authors argue, educators must first be aware of the racialized context in which we live. Through personal anecdotes and real-life scenarios, "Unconscious Bias in Schools" provides education leaders with an essential roadmap for addressing these issues directly. The authors draw on the literature on change management, leadership, critical race theory, and racial identity development, as well as the growing research on unconscious bias in a variety of fields, to provide guidance for creating the conditions necessary to do this work--awareness, trust, and a "learner's stance." Benson and Fiarman also outline specific steps toward normalizing conversations about race; reducing the influence of bias on decision-making; building empathic relationships; and developing a system of accountability. All too often, conversations about race become mired in questions of attitude or intention--"But I'm not a racist!" This book shows how information about unconscious bias can help shift conversations among educators to a more productive, collegial approach that has the potential to disrupt the patterns of perception that perpetuate racism and institutional injustice. [Foreword written by Glenn E. Singleton.]
Eberhardt, J. L. (2019). Biased : Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. Penguin Books. 'Poignant....important and illuminating.'—The New York Times Book Review'Groundbreaking.'—Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just MercyFrom one of the world's leading experts on unconscious racial bias come stories, science, and strategies to address one of the central controversies of our timeHow do we talk about bias? How do we address racial disparities and inequities? What role do our institutions play in creating, maintaining, and magnifying those inequities? What role do we play? With a perspective that is at once scientific, investigative, and informed by personal experience, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt offers us the language and courage we need to face one of the biggest and most troubling issues of our time. She exposes racial bias at all levels of society—in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and criminal justice system. Yet she also offers us tools to address it. Eberhardt shows us how we can be vulnerable to bias but not doomed to live under its grip. Racial bias is a problem that we all have a role to play in solving.
Harris, L. (2019). Diversity Beyond Lip Service : A Coaching Guide for Challenging Bias. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 'La'Wana Harris has opened this coach's eyes to the power of coaching practices to create new paths for diversity and inclusion work—whether or not you are formally trained as a coach. Please read this book and help create workplaces with honest engagement and access for all.'—Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers 50 #1 Executive Coach and two-time #1 Leadership Thinker in the worldThe ugly truth about diversity is that some people worry they must give up their power for others to have a chance. La'Wana Harris's Inclusion Coaching method helps people realize that sharing power isn't the same as losing it. The elephant in the room with diversity work is that people with privilege must use it to allow others equal access to power. This is often why diversity efforts falter—people believe in diversity until they feel that they have to give something up. How do we talk them through this shift?La'Wana Harris introduces Inclusion Coaching, a new tool based on cutting-edge research that identifies the stages of preparation, implementation, and “self-work” necessary to help individuals, teams, and organizations build a sustainable culture of inclusion. Harris's six-stage COMMIT model—Commit to courageous action, Open your eyes and ears, Move beyond lip service, Make room for controversy and conflict, Invite new perspectives, and Tell the truth even when it hurts—provides a proven process for making people aware of their own conscious and unconscious biases and concrete steps to make inclusion an embedded reality. Harris offers managers and diversity coaches new models to empower everyone from employees to CEOs to “do” inclusion and address deep-rooted biases that are often invisible. She addresses the growing need to challenge bias and build authentic cultures where everyone can feel a sense of belonging.
Ross, H. J. (2020). Everyday Bias : Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives: Vol. Updated edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. To be human is to be biased. From this simple truth, nationally recognized diversity expert Howard J. Ross explores the biases we each carry within us. Incorporating anecdotes from today's headlines alongside case studies from over 30 years of diversity consulting, Ross helps readers understand how unconscious bias impacts our day-to-day lives and, particularly, our daily work lives. And, he answers the question: “Is there anything we can do about it?” by providing examples of behaviors that the reader can engage in to disengage the impact of their own biases. Originally published in 2014, the updated edition draws new examples from today's headlines such as the #me too Movement, police shootings, and bias in the ever more partisan Trump era.

Articles & Essays

Osta, K., Vasquez, H. Implicit Bias and Structural Inequity. (n.d.). National Equity Project. Osta, K., Vasquez, H. Implicit Bias and Structural Inequity. (n.d.). National Equity Project. Retrieved January 25, 2023 from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e32157bff63c7446f3f1529/t/5f173bc8da7d1115210824c0/1595358153358/National-Equity-Project-Implicit-Bias.pdf
UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. (n.d.). Implicit Bias. UCLA. Click to view guides, reports, articles, and more.
Vector Solutions. (2019, March 7). Small Acts of Kindness: Micro-Affirmations and Campus Climate. Vector Solutions. Blog entry discussing Rowe’s concept of “micro-inequities” [which] is akin to “microaggressions,” an idea that has gained considerable coverage in the media recently (for instance, here, here, here, here, and here). Schools trying to create safe and supportive campus climate for their students should take this idea seriously and consider ways to address these small poisonous acts.
Wheeler, M. A. & Sojo, V. (2017, March 7). Unconscious bias is keeping women out of senior roles, but we can get around it. The Conversation. Most people would not consciously decide to hire candidates based on whether they remind them of themselves. But one unconscious bias – affinity bias – may lead people to favour candidates who are like themselves, research shows. Affinity or similarity bias is where people seek out those who share their backgrounds, group membership, or experiences. If hiring managers and boards of directors are made up of mostly men who unconsciously engage in such bias, it stands to reason that more men than women will continue to be hired and promoted – particularly men who share the same background with current managers. This only serves to perpetuate the cycle of men outnumbering women in leadership positions. Gender targets, de-identifying CVs and structured interviews are but a few of the strategies that can help eliminate such bias in recruiting employees.

Audiovisual Resources

Cohen, A. 3 Ways to Lead Tough, Unavoidable Conversations [Video]. TED. Many of life's transformative conversations are also the most difficult ones -- those we tend to avoid. In this practical talk, conflict resolution expert Adar Cohen urges us to lean into these exchanges and offers three simple ways to steer them more effectively.
Culture of Peace. (2016, July 16). A Conversation on Hidden Bias, Part 1: Introduction & Howard J. Ross Presentation [Video]. Youtube. A Conversation on Hidden Bias, Part 1: Introduction & Howard J. Ross Presentation
Culture of Peace. (2016, July 28). A Conversation on Hidden Bias Part 1: Introduction and Howard J. Ross Presentation [Video]. Youtube. A Conversation on Hidden Bias Part 1: Introduction and Howard J. Ross Presentation; additional parts linked below video.
Gonchar, M. (2017, March 15). 26 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students [Video]. The New York Times. How do we get students to consider perspectives different from their own? How do we get them to challenge their own biases and prejudices? If, as Atticus Finch famously said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” how do we get our students to do that? Teachers traditionally turn to literature, history and current events to open up these conversations, but it’s always helpful to have a bigger toolbox to tackle such important and difficult issues. That’s why we pulled together these 26 short New York Times documentaries that range in time from 1 to 7 minutes and tackle issues of race, bias and identity. To help teachers make the most of these films, we also provide several teaching ideas, related readings and student activities. In the comments, we hope you’ll share how you use these films in your own classroom.
Moriba, G. & Paksima, J. (2019-2022). Sounds Like Hate [Audio podcast]. Southern Poverty Law Center. Sounds Like Hate is a podcast from the Southern Poverty Law Center that tells the stories of people and communities grappling with hate and searching for solutions. You will meet people who have been personally impacted by hate, hear their voices and be immersed in the sounds of their world. And, you will learn about the power of people to change – or to succumb to their worst instincts. Sounds Like Hate was nominated for two People’s Voice Webby awards in 2022. Season One takes a deep dive into the realities of hate in modern America: how it functions, how it spreads, who is affected and what people are doing about it. Season Two examines the distorted history of the Confederacy some people accept as truth and how the people we love the most could be guided toward violent extremist beliefs. Season Three reveals the harms done to individuals and our democracy by hate and extremism – while also showcasing the hope and resilience of the people fighting back. Hear from the unsung heroes who have pushed back against voter suppression in the South, who have stood up for the rights of trans children in the foster care system and who have taken on the unlawful militias who target migrants, often in cahoots with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Two of the series in this season were nominated for a prestigious Webby award. Check out our nominations here and here. In Season Four, we explore the many manifestations of white supremacy in our current moment – from Confederate memorials to the Jan. 6 insurrection. We begin with a special episode marking the one-year anniversary of the extremist assault on the Capitol, which examines clues scattered openly across the nation by antigovernment networks and white supremacists – and shows how SPLC analysts were sounding the alarm well before the attack. Then, we continue our “Monumental Problems” series by taking you inside Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and its racial reckoning. We investigate how students are impacted by VMI’s dangerous and pervasive glorification of the Confederacy – which casts a long shadow of white supremacy over the school. Student and alumni activists’ demands for change are part of a broader struggle in the South and beyond. The story at VMI is about confronting our nation’s past and the legacy of slavery in order to build a more inclusive democracy for us all.
NPR. (2016, September 30). Bias Isn't Just a Police Problem, It's a Preschool Problem [Video]. Youtube. A 2016 study by researchers at Yale found that pre-K teachers, white and black alike, spend more time watching black boys -- expecting trouble.
TED. (2009). The Danger of a Single Story (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi) [Video]. Youtube. Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
TED. (2014, December 15). Verna Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them [Video]. Youtube. (TED Talk) Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly — as we've seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New York. Diversity advocate Verna Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable. In a funny, impassioned, important talk, she shows us how.
TEDx Talks. (2014, October 16.) Implicit Bias -- how it effects us and how we push through | Melanie Funchess | TEDxFlourCity [Video]. Youtube. This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Everyone makes assumptions about people they don’t know. Melanie will teach us to recognize these assumptions and work toward a common understanding. Ms. Melanie Funchess is currently employed by the Mental Health Association where she serves as the Director of Community Engagement. She is also involved in several community based coalitions and organizations such as the African American Leadership Development Program, African American Health Coalition, Black Women’s Leadership Forum, Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute, the Mental Health Promotion Task Force, and the Neighborhood Consortium for Youth Justice. She is a founding member of the Coalition for the Beloved Community. The Coalition’s mission is to serve as a “countywide movement to build a culture of peace; grounded in dignity and fed by hope”. She is a devoted wife and mother of four children (two boys and two girls) three of whom experience mental/ emotional challenges. Her mission is to use her knowledge of systems and communities to create opportunities for youth and families to be empowered and successful and to break down the walls that separate us and build bridges to unite us as one community where every child is our own, we have front porch neighborhoods, and we use language that respects everyone.
UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. (n.d.). Implicit Bias [Website]. UCLA. Click to view videos.
Vedantam, S. (n.d.) The Mind of the Village [Audio podcast episode]. Hidden Brain Media. A culture of racism can infect us all. On this week’s Radio Replay, we discuss the implicit biases we carry that have been forged by the society around us.

Guides & Tools

Desmond-Harris, J. (2015, February 16). What exactly is a microaggression? Vox. An Asian-American student is complimented by a professor for speaking perfect English, but it's actually his first language. A black man notices that a white woman flinches and clutches her bag as she sees him in the elevator she's about to enter, and is painfully reminded of racial stereotypes. A woman speaks up in an important meeting, but she can barely get a word in without being interrupted by her male colleagues. There's a name for what's happening in these situations, when people's biases against marginalized groups reveal themselves in a way that leaves their victims feeling uncomfortable or insulted: microaggressions.
Harvard Implicit Bias Tests The mission of Project Implicit is to educate the public about bias and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the internet. Project Implicit scientists produce high-impact research that forms the basis of our scientific knowledge about bias and disparities. Please visit https://www.projectimplicit.net to learn more about our team and the programs and services that we offer.
Interrupting Bias: Calling In vs. Calling Out Practical guide for holding conversations involving and moving beyond bias.
Rockquemore, K. A. (2016, April 13). Allies and Microaggressions. Inside Higher Ed. When you see microaggressions occurring against colleagues, how should you respond? Kerry Ann Rockquemore offers guidance.
Rowe, M. & Scully, M. (2009). Bystander Training within Organizations. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association. 2(1), 1-9. At a time when employers around the world are concerned about racism, bullying, harassment, ethics and safety violations, many managers want to encourage people to react, and take appropriate action, with respect to unacceptable behavior. Although this kind of training appears to have started with respect to topics like safety and diversity, training for active bystanders is pertinent to many kinds of behavior.
Souza, T. (2018, April 30). Responding to Microaggressions in the Classroom: Taking ACTION. Faculty Focus. The term “microaggression” was coined in 1970 to name relatively slight, subtle, and often unintentional offenses that cause harm (Pierce, 1970). Since then, a substantial body of research on microaggressions has demonstrated their prevalence and harmful effects (Boysen, 2012; Solorzan, et. al., 2010; Suárez-Orozco, et. al., 2015; Sue, 2010). Whether an observer, the target, or the unintentional perpetrator of microaggressions, faculty often don’t know how to respond to them in the moment. We may feel frozen (if the observer) or defensive (if the target or perpetrator). How we respond can shift the communication climate from supportive to defensive, which can have an adverse effect on student learning and comfort (Dallimore, et al, 2005; Souza, et al, 2010). Despite the feelings of paralysis or reactivity that tend to emerge in response to microaggressions in the classroom, certain practices can be implemented to increase the likelihood of maintaining a supportive climate. The following communication framework is offered as one of many possible response strategies to help faculty feel better equipped to effectively respond when a microaggression occurs
Test Yourself for Hidden Bias. Professional Development in Learning for Justice. This article discusses "Project Implicit," created by psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington to develop Hidden Bias Tests—called Implicit Association Tests, or IATs, in the academic world—to measure unconscious bias.
National Museum of African American History and Culture. (n.d.) Talking About Race. Smithsonian/National Museum of African American History and Culture. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives. Contents include information, videos, and reflection and discussion tools.
Yale University Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Awareness of Implicit Biases. Yale University. Implicit bias refers to unconscious attitudes, reactions, stereotypes, and categories that affect behavior and understanding. In higher education, implicit bias often refers to unconscious racial or socioeconomic bias towards students, which can be as frequent as explicit bias (Boysen, et. al 2009). Instructors can hold assumptions about students’ learning behaviors and their capability for academic success which are tied to students’ identities and/or backgrounds, and these assumptions can impede student growth (Staats, et. al, 2017). Instructors can consider a variety of strategies and benefits for revealing and addressing implicit bias, both in themselves and their students.