1. Serving with Openness And Inclusion
Exploring Unconscious Bias and its Impact
501 Commons
Learn to Serve
November 1, 2017
Presented by:
Brenetta Ward
Yvonne Freitas McGookin

2. Objectives Increase awareness and understanding about unconscious bias
Recognize the impact of unconscious bias
Explore strategies to minimize the impact of unconscious bias

3. Community Agreements

4. Hidden or implicit bias
Social stereotypes about certain groups of people that we form outside of our own conscious awareness
Everyone has it – stems from our tendency to organize our social worlds by categorizing them
Pervasively influences hiring, evaluation, selection of candidates and even daily interactions

5. Confirmation bias is a form of unconscious bias
Seek confirmation of our preconceptions while avoiding information that might contradict them
Tend to overvalue information supporting our preconceptions and undervalue information in conflict with them

6. Exploring Together ….
Have you ever been confronted by your own unconscious bias?
Have you ever had to confront someone about their own bias?

7. Other Biases
Value Attribution – inclination to imbue a person or thing with certain qualities based on an initial perceived value
Confidence Bias – becoming attached to a particular point of view even when it is obviously wrong
Priming – implicit tendency to respond to something based on expectations created from a previous experience
Focalism – the tendency to rely too heavily on one trait or piece of information when making decisions

9. Exploring Together …. What lens do you use to view the world?
How does your lens shape your perception?
When have your previously held perceptions been challenged by a new experience?

10. Serving Our Community

11. Exploring Together ….
How has (or might) unconscious bias impact your experience with a client or fellow Service Corps team members?

12. Reducing Unconscious Bias

13. Minimizing our Bias
Recognize that bias is a normal part of our human experience
Develop the capacity for self-observation
Practice constructive uncertainty – questioning our preconceptions and assumptions
Explore awkwardness and triggers that we experience around certain situations
Ask for feedback from others