Does Unconscious Bias Training Actually Work?

Unconscious bias training has been effective for creating long-term change, including increasing awareness and concern about discriminatory practices and decreasing implicit bias overall. The key is to regularly engage with the resources necessary for habit-breaking.

Everyone holds their own biases, many of which they are not aware. Implicit biases by definition are unintentional and therefore more difficult to identify — but this doesn’t mean they’re any less damaging than explicit biases.

On a personal level, you can begin to overcome implicit bias by:

• Doing the work to discover your own blind spots. There are many resources outside of formal training tools available to get you started on thinking about implicit biases and their impacts.
• Refusing to accept the status quo. Don’t settle for leaving barriers up because that’s the way it’s always been. These obstacles are not permanent and it’s time to collectively address what we as a society deem valuable. Mitigating the effects of unconscious biases as much as possible should be a priority today.
• Supporting and revising your workplace’s DEI strategies. Individual action is helpful, but getting your organization on track to foster an inclusive workplace culture is important to eliminating deeper, systemic problems.

The Perception Institute reports, “individualized interventions show promise, but of equal or even greater significance are addressing structural conditions in which people operate. In other words, segregated workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods deeply affect the incidence of implicit bias and in-group preference”.

Unconscious bias training has been proven to work in partnership with committed action and ongoing practice to help you reach your desired DEI outcomes. Further, unconscious bias training can work to unravel the implicit biases hidden in the structures of your workplace’s policies and practices.

See the results yourself by taking the first step today.