Unconscious biases affect our perceptions, decisions, and interactions every day. How do we address biases if we don't know about them? In this talk, you will learn how to recognize and counter the biases that play a part in interviewing, meeting a new team member, and day-to-day interactions. You’ll also see common scenarios and how to address bias as it happens or after the fact. Together, we can make Asynchrony a more diverse and inclusive place to work.
3. • Saves you time and effort from processing everything helping your brain
categorize information
• Influenced by our background, our cultural environment, and our
personal experiences
• If we try to believe that everyone has good intentions, then most bias
falls under the category of unconscious bias
Bias = prejudice in favor or against a person, group, or
thing compared to something or someone else
4. What will I learn?
Common vocabulary
Common biases
Consequences of the biases
Decoupling bias
How to act in certain situations
6. 70% of white people have a preference for white people
50% of black people have a presence for white people
implicit.harvard.edu
76% of people have a preference for able-bodied people
76% of people more readily associated males with career and
females with family
7. Out-group
Group that you do not identify with
Judge on accomplishments
In-group
Group that you identify with
Judge on potential
8. Intersectionality
Interconnected nature of social
categorizations such as race,
class, and gender as they apply
to a given individual or group
Microaggression
A subtle but offensive comment
or action directed at a
nondominant group, often
unintentionally or unconsciously
Sometimes the bias is ridiculous, sometimes it’s
dangerous, and sometimes it’s a low to high buzz that
won’t go away
9. Perception that everyone believes this stereotype
Get nervous and anxious about playing into the stereotype
Get tired of fighting to be heard and stop talking as much
Do not have the same influence as before
Become less confident and engaged
Do not perform as well
Spend energy holding back your authentic self
Stereotype Threat
10. We want to hire and retain the best talent
Why do we care?
Perceived bias effects commitment, job satisfaction, work place
tensions, and someone’s feelings of belonging and worth
Diverse teams tackle complex problems better and have more
innovation
12. 1% Bias
• Doughnuts can get rated
101%, cupcakes can get rated
only up to 100%
• 15% attrition at each level,
backfill from the next highest
performer
• Simulation was run 20 times
L8
L7
L6
L5
L4
L3
L2
L1 50
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50
13. A little bias goes a long way
L8
L7
L6
L5
L4
L3
L2
L1 47
50
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61
65
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15. “Well, I know this stuff
happens, but it’s not that
bad, is it?”
“I’ve never heard it
myself”
“This stuff doesn’t
happen here”
“This is blown out of
proportion"
17. Favor people with similar
backgrounds to our own
Assumptions about why they
have their background
Think a certain profile will succeed
at a certain role
Unintentionally overlook
candidates that don’t fit that profile
Pattern
Recognition
Stereotype
Incongruence
21. Recruiting
Pick between school smarts and street smarts
Bias towards street smarts
Pick between male and female candidates
Bias towards male candidates
Articulate expectation of street or school smarts ahead of time
Bias was removed
22. Structured
Interviewing:
Same criteria and
data-driven
questions
Ask for
Evidence:
Don’t fill in the
blanks with your
own assumptions
Minimum
Qualifications:
Evaluate using
these instead of
shifting standards
Understand
Culture Fit:
Don’t classify your
feelings, point to
values in a rubric
Remove names
and dates:
Does this have
potential for
bias?
Play Devil’s
Advocate:
“Would we think
this of an [x]
candidate?”
26. “I don’t know any serious female developers”
“Statistically, there are more men than women so using ‘he’ makes
sense” / “Using ‘he’ is grammatically correct”
Gender
“God didn’t make men and women to be the
same; women are just worse at logic”
27. “I always forget that you’re not white. You just seem so normal”
Using accents or dialects: “Hey sistah gurl”
Race and Ethnicity
“I have a [race/ethnicity] friend who…”
28. Sexual Orientation
“When other people could talk about their spouses, I felt like I
needed to hide mine. I wasn’t ashamed of my relationship,
but I didn’t want it to hinder me professionally”
29. Gender identity
“A coworker was talking about how they thought transgender
people were sick people, abominations.
I felt like I was going to vomit — I had just spent an hour
telling my transgender sibling that everything would be okay”
30. Citizenship
“We went from joking around about our children to someone
asking me if I was allowed in the secure side of the building.
They didn’t ask anyone else.
I felt like a second-class citizen”
33. “I question everything”
How do you speak?
“You always say that” | “We never do that”
“The [client/person/group] is wrong/doesn’t know what
they’re talking about”
34. Who is in your meetings?
“At a client site, we were at a meeting and the team
lead introduced themselves and not me. When I spoke
up about an issue, the clients didn’t have any context
as to why I was in the room and what my role was.”
“I was new on a team and the person who brought me
to a meeting didn’t think to introduce me. As a result,
everyone thought I was the client and treated me
differently”
“At a client site, we were at a meeting and the team lead
introduced themselves and not me. When I spoke up about an
issue, the clients didn’t have any context as to why I was in the
room and what my role was.”
“I was new on a team and the person who brought me to a
meeting didn’t think to introduce me. As a result, everyone
thought I was the client and treated me differently”
35. “I asked a candidate an interview question, and he looked at the
male interviewer when answering instead of me”
“I brought up an issue and the team didn’t look at me until
someone else restated it and actively redirected the conversation”
Who do you look at when you speak?
“When no one on the team knows something, they look immediately
to the person who they trust the most to have the answer.”
36. Solicit input from everyone
Listen carefully
Call out when someone has an idea
Interrupt the interrupters
Assign responsibilities
Ground Rules for Meetings
Introduce everyone
38. Disappointment: Why isn’t anyone saying
anything?
Worry: Will this person be receptive to hearing
this is wrong?
Hope: Maybe someone will say something
Shock: I can’t believe they said that
Anger: #$%& that person. What a jerk.
40. Welp, that was awkward
Option 1: Say nothing
Option 2: Wait until later to say something to
the person affected
• Bad: “They didn’t mean it” | “It was just a
joke” | “You’re overreacting”
• Good: “I understand that was a bad thing.
How do you want me to support you?”
41. Woah, that was so not cool
Option 1: Say nothing
Option 2: Call it out!
• Bad: Negatively comment about the
offender or humiliate them
• “Hey, that really wasn’t okay”
• “What did you mean by that?”
• “Why do you think that?”
42. What are they thinking?
• “I believe this because the majority of
people I’ve encountered fit this"
• “This is a funny joke”
• “I don’t know that this is offensive”
43. While getting called out:
Don’t play it off or act like it didn’t happen
• “It was just a joke, lighten up”
• “I was just being sarcastic”
• “It doesn’t mean what you think it
means”
• “Everyone else found it funny”
• Shame: “I was wrong and now I feel
bad…”
44. How do I recover?
Learn to apologize sincerely
• Bad: “I’m sorry you felt that way”
• “I didn’t realize that it was offensive”
• “I’m sorry I said that”
• “Can we talk about why it was
offensive?”
• “Can you continue to call me out if I
do this again?”
47. Listen, Believe, and Acknowledge
Challenge and Counter Stereotypes
Be Aware and Understand the Impact
Assess Your Relationship with Outgroups
Check the Context of Information
Be an Active Bystander
Become a Scientist of Your Own Behavior
What Can I Do?
48. We have all been a help and a harm to people. Let’s just try to help more often
At the end of the day…
Be caring in how you call it out and thank others when they do
Keep an open mind, keep learning and growing, and we’ll all move forward