Diversity and inclusion at Edgewood college Module 2 Fall 2014 Click to advance to next slide.

It’s easy to recognize that being with people different from ourselves helps us see issues from diverse perspectives. The more we challenge ourselves the more easily we consider those perspectives. For example, getting to know someone that has hearing impairment helps us become more sensitive to their needs. This sensitivity would likely cause us to modify a presentation with sound/audio to accommodate our hearing impaired friend’s need, possibly using closed captioning or providing a transcript. Click to advance to next slide.

The same is true when we surround ourselves with people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, etc. Inevitably we learn more about different cultures and how harmful stereotypes and micro- aggressions affect them. Valuing the contributions of our diverse colleagues only stands to improve our performance and make us more successful. Click to advance to next slide.

This Student Worker Inclusion Training module is designed to help us look more closely at implicit bias. Our unconscious mind is responsible for most of our thought processes, Movies/TV Shows Social Norms Advertising Family Values so it’s important to understand how our upbringing, the media, societal norms, etc. may cause implicit bias and influence our behavior. Click to advance to next slide.

Consider this: While the conscious mind is busy processing 40 bits of information per second, the unconscious mind is effortlessly computing 11 million bits per second. Click to advance to next slide.

Think about the shows you watched or commercials you saw on TV when you were a child. Did they feature people that looked like you? Were the way they portrayed your culture somewhat accurate? Click to advance to next slide.

Why is it important to know about implicit biases? By reflecting on our unconscious preferences we can make deliberate efforts to resist their affects on our behavior and choices. Click to advance to next slide.

What is the difference between implicit and explicit bias? Attitudes that are explicit are at the conscious level, deliberate and readily shared. Implicit attitudes are involuntary, unconscious, and often-times unknown to the individual. Click to advance to next slide.

EXAMPLES OF EXPLICIT BIAS STATEMENTS: “I don’t think a woman would make a good president. Women are too emotional.” “He’s Asian. He must be good at Math.” Asking a Latino/a where they are from—assuming they are not U.S. citizens. Click to advance to next slide.

EXAMPLE OF IMPLICIT BIAS: Assuming that the woman coming into the hospital room is a nurse instead of a doctor because of her gender expression. Assuming that you have to teach an older adult how to use a tech product. A store associate following a young person in a store because they are concerned about shoplifting. Click to advance to next slide.

How do I know if I have implicit bias? There’s an app for that! Click to advance to next slide.

Developers of the Implicit Association Test PROJECT IMPLICIT A group of researchers founded a non-profit organization called Project Implicit that studies and educates the public about unconscious–or implicit—stereotypes. A few of the researchers developed the Implicit Association Test, which is essentially a computerized assessment of a participant’s association of images and positive/negative words with different aspects of social identity. By measuring the difference in time it takes to perform word and picture associations, the test provides users with information about their automatic preference for one social group over another. Developers of the Implicit Association Test Anthony Greenwald University of WA Mahzarin Banaji Harvard University Brian Nosek University of VA Click to advance to next slide.

When you click NEXT, a list of colors will appear. To give you an idea of how the IAT works, try this similar experiment from the University of Washington! When you click NEXT, a list of colors will appear. In this experiment you are required to say the color of the word, not what the word says. For example, for the word, RED, you should say "Blue.” NEXT Click to advance to next slide.

Pretty easy? Since the text colors and the words correlated, it was easy for our brains to categorize them and “read” the colors. Now let’s try it again with a new word set. Click NEXT to begin the next phase of the experiment. Again, say the color of the word, not what the word says. For example, for the word, RED, you should say "Blue.” NEXT Click to advance to next slide.

Did you struggle with that one Did you struggle with that one? With the second word set the disparate color and text make it difficult to categorize and read the colors. This is a great demonstration of how our unconscious brain affects even the most mundane of activities. Now that you understand a little bit more of how your unconscious mind may affect your behavior, let’s challenge it a little further. Click to advance to next slide.

Before we try the IAT, there are a few things to keep in mind. You will not be asked to share the results of your Implicit Association Test. This activity is intended only to provide participants with the opportunity to reflect on potential implicit associations. This test is not intended to make anyone feel guilty or defensive. Having implicit bias is completely normal. Some people are even surprised to find that they are biased against their own social group. Disclaimer from the study: “In reporting to you results of any IAT test that you take, we will mention possible interpretations that have a basis in research done (at the University of Washington, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Yale University) with these tests. However, these Universities, as well as the individual researchers who have contributed to this site, make no claim for the validity of these suggested interpretations.” Click to advance to next slide.

Complete the IAT (It should only take 10-15 minutes.) Click here to go to the Implicit Association Test. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ Continue to the test as a guest by clicking the “Go!” button to the right of the American Flag. Read through the preliminary information. If for any reason you object to taking the test, please contact Missy Mael at mmael@edgewood.edu. Otherwise, click “I wish to proceed.” Select an IAT that you think will challenge you. You can try other tests later. Select “Click Here to Begin” under the green checkmark. Click “Continue.” Answer the brief questionnaire(s). Read through the instructions for the IAT and then click “I am ready to begin.” Follow the IAT instructions to complete the test. After you complete the test, close the browser to return to this module and advance to the next slide. Click to advance to next slide.

Easy ways to resist the influence of implicit bias Tune into your body when you feel uncomfortable in a situation and intentionally work against it. Avoid closing off your body language and consciously avoid reacting to your discomfort. Check yourself when you make assumptions about a person. If, for example, you assume that the woman in the hospital room is the nurse instead of the doctor because of her gender expression, make a conscious mental note of it and commit to not doing it in the future.

Making things right if you mess up Rather than pretending that bias doesn’t exist, accept the fact that you’re occasionally going to say the wrong thing. We all do. Just have a few go-to apologies ready, such as: “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out quite right.” or “Oops. Please forgive me. I’m still learning and sometimes I slip up.”

Making things right if someone offends you Try to remember that it’s rare to find a person that is maliciously trying to offend you. However, nobody wins if we don’t educate each other. When addressing transgressions, it’s important to focus on the words that were spoken and not the individual that spoke them. Even better, assume that they didn’t mean to say something offensive but misspoke. Say things like: “I don’t think I understand what you just said. Can you explain it to me?” “It makes me uncomfortable when you say [insert offensive remark]. Can we talk about this?” or “I used to think that way until I learned…”

ACTIVITY Please consider your reaction to taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Go to the Student Worker Inclusion Training Course on Blackboard, and complete the following Implicit Bias Discussion Board activity in the Content section. (The name of the course is NCC-Student_Worker_Training.) 1. Create a post that answers the following questions: Were you surprised by your results?  Why/why not? Do you think the results revealed something about you or do you doubt their legitimacy? If you doubt the results, please explain why. What are some steps you can take to address your own implicit biases? 2. Please respond to posts from at least two other participants.