Understanding Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias occurs automatically and is identified by psychologists as part of everyone’s social identity. This is because, whether we like it or not, we are all socialized into the cultural ways of our ethnic heritage. These biases teach us what constitutes someone as ‘one of us’ and what doesn’t.

But what effect is this having on businesses and the global workforce? What are the steps we can take to be aware of, and correct this seemingly unavoidable behaviour? Our ‘Unconscious Bias’ workshop will tackle these questions and give you the answers to identifying and tackling occurrences of unconscious bias in the workplace.

The itinerary for this workshop is as follows:

A brief explanation of unconscious bias, with workplace examples including:

• Key psychological theories related to unconscious/implicit bias

A review of the research on the impact of unconscious bias on human decision making, behaviours and actions at work, including:

• The role of the brain – a layperson’s introduction to neuroscience
• The various types of cognitive biases
• How research has highlighted the manifestation of unconscious bias in areas of decision-making that are relevant to business and the working environment

A demonstration of the benefits of tackling the effects of unconscious bias, to avoid discriminatory acts in business and the workplace, which will include:

• The business case for meeting the challenges of unconscious bias head on

Outline the methods and techniques for reducing unconscious bias in the workplace including:

• Self-assessment methods
• ‘Coping strategies’ for individuals to consider