Part 1 – CULTURAL UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AT INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Independently of its object – culture, gender, race, age etc. -, unconscious bias is a challenge each individual has to face. Addressing unconscious bias is a delicate issue as many people regard bias as a personal flaw.

In the following we will address three steps an individual may undertake to find a personal approach to managing own unconscious bias.

• sensitising
• recognising
• solving

Sensitising

As bias is linked to natural mental shortcuts, which are one of the ways a human brain works, the first step towards sensitising for unconscious bias is probably to convey the notion that bias, as a result of certain mental processes, has to be accepted as such. Acceptance doesn’t mean justifying biased attitudes. However, it may lead to reducing individual resistance when faced with one’s own biases. Furthermore, acknowledging bias as a cognitive element of a human mind may contribute to avoiding a (self-)blaming attitude some people may have, which doesn’t lead to the problem being solved. (Shaules, Podcast No. 9, 4/2021)

Applied to the cultural context, this may mean for example, accepting that you might prefer socialising with people from your own cultural background. Encounters with “foreigners”, like migrants or people with migrant background, may lead to feeling uncomfortable in certain situations.

Tip:  Gaining knowledge about the mechanisms of bias contributes to the acceptance of bias and lowers resistance to it.

Recognition

To become more aware of one’s own biases it may be helpful to start reflecting on questions like: “Did I ever benefit from the bias of others towards me?” (Nalty, 5/45, p. 47), in other words to ask, for example: “Did I ever get a job, because the head of HR liked me during the job interview and I maybe even was aware of this?”. Furthermore, trying to change perspective and to imagine how others feel when they become the object of biased behaviour can lead to deeper insights. Imagine how other job candidates, for example with migrant background, feel when they notice they won’t get the job because of some personal characteristics like a foreign accent, skin colour or cultural background. As self-reflection may be difficult, it may be helpful sometimes to identify areas of bias in oneself by taking an unconscious bias test (see CUB@Work – Self assessment). Another very well-known test is the Implicit Association Test developed by Harvard University ( https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html)

Applied to the cultural context identifying cultural unconscious bias may mean for example recognising that one got the job only because one’s physical traits (blond hair and blue eyes, fair skin) fitted better to the culturally given standards while other candidates traits didn’t.

Tip: Try to find a personal approach by reflecting on precise situations at work to spot unconscious bias. A further step in enhancing awareness may be the attempt to take the perspective of the cultural ‘other’ so as to identify on an emotional level.

Solving

A further step in the process of enhancing awareness about one’s own biases is by trying to change biased attitudes and behaviour.

To overcome bias it can be helpful to question one’s own assumptions and attitudes. For example, ask yourself: is it justified to assume that colleagues aren’t suited to tasks only because they display an “easy-going” style of behaviour at work? Or question your thoughts and emotions when you learn that your colleague with migrant background climbs up the career ladder…

Once you have recognised your own biases try consciously to think the opposite. You know you don’t trust your colleagues being able to carry out a responsible task because of certain outer appearance or cultural background? Give them a chance. Try to think that casual behaviour has nothing to do with precision and responsibility when carrying out a task https://www.interweave.in/managers-need-sensitized-towards-unconscious-bias/). The same is true for the cultural background: Non-native language skills, behaviour different to the one you are used to normally or even different working habits you may notice in your colleagues with a different cultural or migrant background shouldn’t guide your opinion about their aptness for a certain task.

When you detect biased attitudes in your colleagues question the assumptions by addressing them (Nalty, 5/45, p. 47); https://www.interweave.in/managers-need-sensitized-towards-unconscious-bias/). Actively focusing on bias is probably one of the best ways to overcome it.

Applied to the cultural context this means for example to ask colleagues why Ahmet Al-Halak wasn’t assigned with the project management.

Tip: To break biased attitudes and behaviour ask yourself and others questions when sensing that bias may be involved in a certain situation.

What has been said so far regards unconscious bias in general. When considering Cultural Unconscious Bias and how to deal with, it is helpful to have in mind two issues: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes.

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism implies the idea of interpreting culturally diverse behaviour according to your own cultural set of standards. For example, believing that people from Chinese culture may be shy is interpreting their observable behaviour according to your own cultural reality. This is what generally is called ”seeing the world through one’s own ‘cultural lense […] to make sense of our experience’ (Shaules, 2015, p. 125f.)”

Ethocentrism can be understood as a particular form of in-group bias as it”distorts our understanding of reality because of an overemphasis on group perspective as a reference point” https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ethnocentrism)

In fact, it is based on the lack of ability to take the other’s perspective. Possible negative outcomes of this inability is that it may lead to a lack of empathy for the cultural other. (Shaules, 2015, p. 126.)

Tip: Try consciously to see the world through the lens of the cultural other by asking yourself or others question like: ”What may the culturally diverse person feel in this particular situation?”

Stereotypes

Saying that all Germans are hard workers isn’t a biased interpretation of observable behaviour, but a questionable (positive) stereotype. So strictly speaking, stereotypes aren’t a kind of bias. However they are the result of a similar mental process. Stereotyping is a kind of categorisation humans necessarily do with the aim of producing sensible interpretations of their surrounding reality ( https://www.anti-bias.eu/wissen/definitionen/stereotypaktivierung-schubladendenken-ohne-kontrolle/). Seen positively this sort of categorisation helps individuals to sort out an overload of information quickly and with little effort. The negative side of it is that ”stereotypes can hijack the interpretations of our experiences. In other words, we don’t take the time to think things through because certain associations are so readily available” (Shaules, 2015, S. 123f).

Tip: Actively question stereotypes with questions like this „Are all Germans really hard workers?”, „Do all migrants want to take advantage of my country?”; consciously imagine counter-stereotypes and look for opportunities of exchange with people you wouldn’t usually interact with (Allen, 2016, p. 1430).

To make efforts in reducing bias, ethonocentrism and stereotyping a success individuals should be aware that it is a long-term project. It is probably hard to realise if there is no willingness to change current attitudes, behaviours and perspectives on the world. (CDO, 2008, p.16)