#Weeknotes 21 (11 June) — How to disrupt unconscious bias with an exercise
Women in technology festival (online conference) is happening this week. I was able to attend a few sessions between work and wanted to share a talk that left a big impression on me.
The speaker, Carly Britton starts with an exercise. Let’s do it together:
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Imagine and visualise — clear your mind, close your eyes and relax (or in this instance, try to visualise the scenes below as you’re slowly reading them)
It’s the first day of your dream job.
You grab a coffee on the way to the office and see, a loved up couple holding hands, eating breakfast outside.
You arrive at the office and you’re greeted by the friendly receptionist.
You take the elevator to the 3rd floor and the doors open.
The room is filled with busy software developers, building the latest technology.
One of the developers stands up and greets you and shows you to your office where your new PA (personal assistant) is waiting.
You can’t wait to get stuck in.
Later that day, the busy Chief Technology Officer pops in to introduce themselves and asks you if you’re settling in.
You’re really excited to start your new career journey.
— —
Now pause and answer these questions:
- Was the couple eating breakfast two women?
- Was the receptionist that greeted you male?
- Was the PA in a wheelchair?
- Was the busy CTO female?
Did you answer no to any of those questions?
I did. And I feel ashamed.
If you did too, Carly says that’s ok and completely normal. That’s unconscious bias and it’s human nature. Saying human nature is to discriminate and exclude doesn’t feel quite right.
Carly argues that unconscious biases aren’t always a bad thing (like seeing a bear and sensing danger instead of rethinking it might be a cuddly bear). However, in day-to-day life, having these unconscious biases are what’s preventing us from being completely equal.
Vanderbilt University defines unconscious bias as prejudice or unsupported judgements in favor of or against one thing, person or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair.
Carly says that to achieve equality, we need to disrupt this unconscious bias, in the workplace for the LGBTQIA+ plus community.
The key is to rewire our thinking. We need to leverage the visualisation techniques as the exercise above have done to enable change in ourselves. Imagine the visualisation and change that visualisation to be more inclusive. Other tips she suggested include:
- Expand your network and reach out to people who are different and from different backgrounds
- Attend webinars, listen to podcasts on diversity and inclusion to educate ourselves better on the topic
- Stories open minds. Sharing and exchanging personal stories of identity and gender (in appropriate settings) can normalise understanding of diversity and build empathy
I really enjoyed this talk because Carly so succinctly captures unconscious bias and in a way that makes me reflect on myself and desire to change for the better. I hope by reading this you also shared some positive takeaways. =)
