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Recent protests over the killing of George Floyd have sparked a nationwide conversation about racism in all areas of American life, including at work. Business leaders are speaking out about systemic racism in the US, but it is yet to be seen how many companies will tackle diversity and inclusion in their own offices.
2020-06-08
Offering training on topics like unconscious bias, could be a first step toward making employees more aware of racism at work. Unconscious bias refers to the stereotypes, both negative and positive, that exist in our subconscious and affect our behavior.
Unconscious bias training is one of Google's initiatives. Over the past couple of years, more tech giants have recognized the dramatic lack of diversity in their workforces as a problem.
The potential benefits extend beyond a more representative workforce. Research published in August from Morgan Stanley asserts that firms that prioritize gender diversity, and have the reports to show for it, outperform less diverse firms.
Back in 2013, Google implemented Unconscious Bias @ Work to bring unconscious biases to the forefront. The training lasts 60 to 90 minutes and is run by a coordinator who has undergone at least 12 hours of training.
However, Welle acknowledged that creating the program didn't mean solving the problem of unconscious bias altogether.
"You can't rest on a training program to change people's minds, to change your culture," he said. "You have to get them to practice the terms, to hold everyone accountable. And that's what we're trying to do."
Google gave us permission to share its presentation on unconscious bias. For access to the slides and the company's unbiasing guide, you can visit Google's re:Work site.
Sherin Shibu contributed to an earlier version of this piece.
The presentation begins with an explanation of why everyone is gathered in the first place: Becoming aware of biases can lead to changing behavior, which ultimately can make Google more collaborative, inclusive, and competitive.
Google re:Workhttps://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/unbiasing-raise-awareness/steps/give-your-own-unbiasing-workshop/
What we call unconscious biases are rooted in the recognition that the human brain evolved to help the species survive.
There are four things in the workplace that commonly trigger unconscious biases. Task: We associate certain jobs with a certain type of person. Numbers: When looking at a group, like job applicants, we're more likely to use biases to analyze people in the outlying demographics. Clarity: When information is lacking, our brains fill in the gaps with what we're expecting. Perceiver: A heightened emotional state can keep the conscious mind distracted.
In 1996, researchers ran a computer simulation of a hierarchy that began as evenly split among men and women eligible for promotion across eight levels, with a rate of 15% attrition. The lowest level has 500 employees and the top only 10. The men and women were assigned a random performance score, but with men on a scale of 1-101 compared to the scale of 1-100 for women.
A more diverse workplace isn't just something that feels right. Years of research has shown that more diverse workplaces are more innovative and thus perform better than those that aren't.
There may be plenty of research on how unconscious bias works, but there isn't much on finding ways to counteract it for the benefit of a company. Google has developed a four-pronged approach.
A 2004 study shows the importance of setting criteria. Researchers randomly assigned traditionally European and African American names to identical résumés and discovered that it took 50% more applications from the latter group to get a call back.
Turning specifically to the tech world, researchers found that in three entrepreneurial pitch competitions across the US, attractive men received notably more funding than both their less attractive counterparts and all women.
In another study, 268 male managers across a variety of industries and departments were asked to use a list of 92 attributes to describe one of 7 categories: men and women in general, men and women as managers, and men and women as successful managers. The result was that 71% of the traits associated with successful managers were associated with men in general.
Data isn't immune to unconscious bias, but it's far less prone to it than our cognition.
Google re:Work
Collecting data is necessary to measuring progress, and can help with spotting patterns. And when you have data about individuals, you're less likely to make assumptions.
Unconscious bias is often manifested in non-malicious ways. For example, when YouTube launched its first app for Apple's iOS, 5-10% of videos appeared upside-down because the engineers had unconsciously optimized the app for right-handed users.
Google has long celebrated the birthdays of famous leaders and innovators on its homepage with signature Doodles, and in 2014 a blogger pointed out that 77% of the year's previous ones were for men. The Doodle team, split in gender, was shocked by the breakdown and then began tracking the diversity of their commemorations.
Google re:Work
Researchers found that working on financial portfolios was gender-stereotyped as a male task. In a 2005 study, they presented subjects with information about a man and a woman working on such a task, the outcome of which was very successful. Half the subjects were given a report on what each member contributed and the other half were given a report on what they contributed as a pair.
Consider how you present yourself to others at your company. And how does your company present itself, from images on its website to the people it chooses to speak at events?
A researcher at Rice University in Texas gave 16 students one of two hats, without showing them which one was placed on their head, and sent them to a mall to verbally apply for jobs. The students were told to surreptitiously record the interaction and observe how it went.
Google re:Work
The researcher found that interactions for those wearing "Texan & Proud" as opposed to "Gay & Proud" hats were longer and notably friendlier. One doesn't necessarily have to carry hostility toward someone from a demographic different from theirs to treat them in an aloof manner.
The network of people you're connected with is critical to your personal and career success. When associating solely with similar individuals, you limit the information you have access to, as well as who has access to you.
A Stanford study took a group of undeclared undergraduate students to rooms decorated either in a traditionally male, geeky way (think video games and "Star Trek") or in a gender-neutral way (nature posters) and gave them questionnaires about different majors. The female students were much more likely to give a positive consideration of tech majors when not in the nerdy, masculine room. That doesn't mean you need to bar your employees from expressing themselves, but consider the inclusiveness of the environment you're creating.
Carefully consider issues like hires and promotions, rather than making a decision because it "feels right." Make note of why you make these decisions, and seek guidance from others as necessary.
Call out examples of unconscious bias that you perceive. Also acknowledge that you may be mistaken. What matters is that a culture of collaboration and transparency is established.
Richard wrote for Business Insider's Strategy vertical, where he oversaw the Better Capitalism series. He was also the host of Business Insider's podcast "This Is Success."At Business Insider, he investigated Dan Gilbert's multibillion-dollar project in Detroit, analyzed the highly unusual management cultures at Bridgewater and Zappos, and examined Wall Street's love of Transcendental Meditation.In 2016 he helped launch Business Insider Italia in Milan.He joined Business Insider in 2013, and is an alumnus of Boston College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He left the company in 2020 to become editorial director at Just Capital.
Tat Bellamy Walker is a Strategy Fellow at Business Insider. He previously interned with Inc. Magazine, CNN’s New York News Bureau, and covered LGBTQ politics for The Daily Beast and NBC.
