Feds urged to fight ‘unconscious bias’ in hiring and promotions ~ Washington Post
It seems as if there are articles everyday about unconscious bias and its impact on the workplace. April 14 in the Washington Post, an article by Joe Davidson outlines the issue quite well:
As dangerous as it was, battling overt segregation during the civil rights era was in some ways easier than combating today’s insidious racism.
At least you could see the “white only” signs and you knew who was behind them.
Those signs are long gone, but racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination didn’t go with them. They are among us, often hidden, yet potent. The perpetrators of this prejudice would never call themselves bigots and might not even realize they act like one.
Beth Cobert, the acting Office of Personnel Management director, is urging federal officials to confront this unseen, but not unfelt, discrimination.
“As many of you know, one of the most challenging barriers to diversity and inclusion is unconscious bias,” she said at OPM’s diversity and inclusion summit at the Coast Guard headquarters Tuesday. “It’s difficult to grapple with because it is unconscious — not as obvious as calling out someone for using improper language or overtly passing someone over for a promotion. Probably the most unconscious bias exhibited during the hiring process is the ‘like me’ bias. The ‘like me’ bias means leaders and managers typically look to hire or promote people who look like themselves. A white male will select a white male, for example.”
Our new program, Defeating Unconscious Bias, shows the impact of bias in the workplace and teaches 5 skills anyone can use to counter their own personal bias.
More From Our Blog…
14 Microaggressions LGBTQ People Deal With All The Time
If I step on your toe, even if it was unintentional, it still hurts. This is a key point as we consider the challenge of microaggressions. Intention is only part of the story, and it’s not the most important part - impact is where we need to look. "When you’re an...
Dr. Sue’s article in Training Magazine!
Training Magazine has published Dr. Sue’s article, Disarming Workplace Microaggressions through Microinterventions. READ HERE. In the article, Dr. Sue defines microaggressions as the everyday slights, put-downs, insults and indignities that marginalized group members...
Remote Learning and Microaggressions
In these COVID-19 pandemic times, we are facing a new area of concern with regard to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion—the remote learning environment. With so many children out of their physical classrooms and engaging in classes via online learning, many parents are...
Verbal Jujitsu, Disarming and Other Tips for Dealing with Microaggressions
Here’s an excellent article in the LA Times that features Dr. Derald Wing Sue and his tactics for disarming and dismantling microaggressions. The article draws on the experiences of a US Olympic figure skater, a Vietnamese-American medical student and a Punjabi Sikh...
On Microaggressions and Their Impact
As SunShower launches our new course, Disarming Microaggressions with Derald Wing Sue Ph.D., we’re grateful to see microaggressions gaining wider attention in the media. Michelle Singletary explores common misconceptions about race and inequality in her 10-part series...
Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’
On this January 18, 2021, as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday since 1986, it feels even more important to reflect on Dr. King's life and what he continues to stand for. For SunShower Learning, diversity, equity and inclusion is more than a...
Unconscious Bias: Our Filter Bubbles Shape Our Worldview
Filter bubble is a new term for the internet age. It was coined by internet activist Eli Pariser to describe a state of intellectual isolation that can result from internet searches that are personalized for you based on, for example, a Google algorithm that guesses...
Inclusivity and High Performance Begins with Psychological Safety
Inclusivity and High Performance Begins with Psychological Safety "A workplace where employees believe they can speak up candidly with ideas, questions, and concerns, and even make mistakes without fear of reprisal or adverse repercussions, contributes to inclusivity...
Our response to the Executive Order
The Trump Administration has issued a flawed and racist executive order that is not in alignment with SunShower Learning’s core values. We stand for equity and inclusion, acknowledging and learning from what history and current research shows us, and working together...
Creating a Welcoming Workplace by Putting Inclusion into Action
Over the years, here at SunShower, we've focused on important topics with a narrow scope, with courses designed to help people practice speaking up against stereotypes, use tools to uncover and then disrupt unconscious biases. In the last few months, we've released a...