Community Post #1: Exposing Hidden Biases at Google to Improve Diversity
Amidst the irrefutable statistics and real-world examples of "Exposing Hidden Bias at Google" is the fact that bias towards females and ethnic minorities in the workplace is existent and quite apparent. According to the article, Google has been using a series of workshops to encourage the acceptance of diversity among its employees and ingrain this acceptance into the company's culture.
One of the tools used to reveal unconscious bias in an individual is an Implicit Association Test, or IAT. Out of curiosity, I took the same test used in the workshops to reveal bias towards blacks or whites and my results were shocking. The results dictated that I was strongly biased towards whites over blacks, a result that nearly half of all other test-takers also received.
The workshops also highlighted gender bias and its effects. A Dr. Brian Welle of Google's human resources group demonstrates how strong just a miniscule amount of unconscious bias can lead to under-representation of women in business. Because of this, women receive less pay than their male counterparts and hold a lower percentage of skilled and management positions.
Dr. Welle states that we may have a greater chance at overcoming this unconscious bias by acknowledging how it affects our decision making and making an effort to force others to confront their bias. As more people become affected by the workshops or any other awareness programs, the tolerance level for diversity will rise, starting at Google.
