Offsetting Racial Bias

This intermediate-level program introduces learners to race-based discrimination and to nuanced concepts like “the model minority myth,” intersecting and invisible identities, and code-switching. Through scenarios featuring a wide range of characters, learners practice disrupting racism at the interpersonal and workplace policy levels. This program was co-created with Colleen James, the Principal Consultant of Divonify, a leading consultancy on racial equity and inclusion.

This program contains 1 hour of EDI Professionalism Content.

TOPIC: DEI

LEVEL: Intermediate

Key Concepts

Policies that support religious and cultural expression in the workplace
Non-discriminatory hiring practices
Responding to “positive” stereotyping and “positive” racial tropes
Inclusion of food cultures at events and in shared workspaces
The hidden impacts of microaggressions or “casual racism”
Code-switching and the burden of conformity for employees of colour

Core Skills & Behaviours

Recognizing and challenging racial bias in oneself
Responding to racial bias or stereotyping in the speech and conduct of others
Advocating for change when we see racial discrimination in policy or practice
Centering the needs of racialized employees and relating empathetically

	Snippet Title	Topic Covered
1	The Smart Asian	Introduces the concept of “the model minority” as experienced by the Asian community and shows that discrimination can lurk behind positive stereotyping.
2	The Daastar and the Dress Code	Shows how discriminatory dress codes can impede legally-protected religious expression in the workplace. Demonstrates why and how to advocate for workplace policy reform.
3	Room for Prayer	Shows how work spaces can be set aside, designed, and shared to support prayer and other contemplative practices to support the inclusion of Muslim colleagues.
4	Newcomer Candidates	Explores the issue of “local experience” as a marker of merit in the hiring process. Shows how skills-based hiring processes can help mitigate bias against newcomers.
5	Kitchen Politics	Highlights the disproportionate consequences of workplace kitchen rules on racialized employees and their food cultures. Discusses how shared food culture can decrease tension and increase belonging.
6	Smoke in the Office	Introduces the Indigenous practice of smudging and how it can be appropriately incorporated into the workplace.
7	The Chinese Virus	Highlights historical and current anti-Chinese racism in North America, and demonstrates how to effectively respond to racist comments in the workplace.
8	Big Gay Jewish Wedding	Explores racism against “invisible identities” as experienced by a Jewish person. Discusses the pervasiveness of anti-Semitic tropes and introduces the concept of “intersecting identities” that compound discrimination.
9	Professional Hair	Through the lens of Black hair culture, discusses how casual racism in the form of comments (or even compliments) can have a large cumulative effect on Black colleagues.
10	Suddenly Latina	Introduces the concept of “code-switching” and shows how to respond when colleagues express their cultures at work.

Offsetting Racial Bias​

TOPIC: DEI

Book a demo to learn:

NEWSLETTER

Try Learning Snippets FREE

Offsetting Racial Bias