What is the purpose of unconscious bias training? Provide an example of how unconscious bias training can affect who gets to attend training or is asked to participate in development activities.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Unconscious bias training has become a popular approach to diversity education. Such training is designed to help individuals become aware of their unconscious biases, provide tools to adjust automatic patterns of thinking, and ultimately help eliminate discriminatory behaviors in the workplace. Unconscious bias training often begins with demonstrations of how the mind operates in ways that are outside of conscious awareness and control. These demonstrations show that people make judgments based on ethnicity or gender, for example, without any conscious intention. There is increasing evidence that unconscious bias training is one of the more effective diversity training strategies. When individuals attend such training, they may gain greater insights about themselves which might otherwise not have been known. As a result, they may be more cognizant of how their biases impact their interactions with others.