Estimated time to read is 15 minutes
Unconscious bias has become something of a buzzword in corporate circles recently. But what is it and why is it important?
What is unconscious bias?
Learned attitudes or stereotypes that exist in our subconscious and can involuntarily affect the way we think and act.
Types of bias
<aside> 💡 Affinity
Affinity bias is when we favor people who we share qualities with. For example, liking someone because they went to the same school as you.
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<aside> 💡 Beauty
Beauty bias suggests that we prefer attractive people and believe they would do a better job than someone less conventionally attractive.
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<aside> 💡 Contrast
Contrast effect is when we compare one thing to another, rather than judging the whole application on its merits.
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<aside> 💡 Gender
Gender bias is when you think one gender may be better for a role than another. This is largely based on stereotyping.
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<aside> 💡 Halo
Halo bias is when you focus on one great positive, while ignoring any flaws that may not make them suitable for the role.
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<aside> 💡 Horns
Horns bias is the opposite of Halo bias. This focuses on one great negative characteristic, while ignoring all positive characteristics.
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Why should you care?
Unconscious bias can affect workplaces and organizations. It can introduce unintentional discrimination and result in poor decision-making. Unconscious Bias can be a huge setback in creating a truly diverse and inclusive workplace. It has been shown that such biases can have an impact on recruitment, mentoring, and promotions.
Top Tips to Mitigate Unconscious Bias
<aside> <img src="data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 24 24' stroke='black' fill='none' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-width='2' stroke-linejoin='round'%3e%3cpath stroke='none' d='M0 0h24v24H0z' fill='none'/%3e%3cpath d='M7 12l5 5l10 -10' /%3e%3cpath d='M2 12l5 5m5 -5l5 -5' /%3e%3c/svg%3e" alt="data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 24 24' stroke='black' fill='none' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-width='2' stroke-linejoin='round'%3e%3cpath stroke='none' d='M0 0h24v24H0z' fill='none'/%3e%3cpath d='M7 12l5 5l10 -10' /%3e%3cpath d='M2 12l5 5m5 -5l5 -5' /%3e%3c/svg%3e" width="40px" /> Accept that we all have unconscious biases.
Bias is part of being human, but we can’t tackle it if we don’t acknowledge this.
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