不良研究所

When Dr. Valerie Pruegger, PhD, shaved her head to raise money for cancer research, people assumed she was terminally ill. And while the assumption itself may have been reasonable, the real problem began when she was treated differently, all because of a haircut. 

鈥淲hen we meet someone new, we unconsciously size them up in a fraction of a millisecond. It鈥檚 part of an evolutionary mechanism built into our brains,鈥� says Pruegger.

While some bias provides a survival advantage by allowing us to quickly enact our fight-or-flight response, over time we have applied biases to groups of people, causing us to make harmful, split-second decisions without even knowing it, Pruegger says.

Since the Office of Diversity, Equity and Protected Disclosure was established four years ago, Pruegger has worked diligently to dismantle hidden biases on campus by examining our policies, practices and procedures to ensure they are fair and equitable for everyone.

Part of Pruegger鈥檚 role includes educating the campus community through workshops, so whether you鈥檙e sitting on a selection committee, hiring a new employee, or interacting with a colleague, you鈥檙e equipped with the tools you need to recognize when harmful bias may be creeping in.

鈥淭he main goal of the Unconscious Bias workshops is to make people aware that these biases do exist so that we can focus on changing behaviours,鈥� Pruegger says.

鈥淧eople often relate having bias to being a bad person, but everyone has biases 鈥� we鈥檙e human beings. Bias is an adaptive function of the human brain, the problem is that it doesn鈥檛 always serve us well in our increasingly pluralistic societies.鈥�

Through research examples on the neurological underpinnings of bias, as well as examples of unconscious bias in daily life, Pruegger aims to help attendees surface their unconscious biases, examine them and explore how they impact their behaviour and decision-making. 

鈥淎n example I often use is related to driving. Say you decide all women drivers are bad. When you see someone driving poorly and it happens to be a woman, it confirms your bias,鈥� Pruegger says. 鈥淗owever, if you look over and see a man driving badly, you ignore that data because it doesn鈥檛 fit with your stereotype, and your bias remains intact.

鈥淚nstead, what we need to do is make a conscious effort to recognize these inconsistencies in order to create new neuropathways that disrupt our negative biases.鈥�

From more equitable hiring practices, to a safer environment where people are free to express their varying identities, addressing unconscious bias has numerous benefits for the campus community.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of room for self-reflection and growth as we confront our biases and try to change them when needed,鈥� Pruegger says. 鈥淚t is important to unlearn and surface the biases that are standing in our way of effective interpersonal relationships, but more importantly, we need to look at our systems to see where bias is being embedded and how it鈥檚 creating inequities and systemic discrimination.鈥�

Request an Unconscious Bias workshop for your unit online or contact Andrea Berbic at 403.220.4439 or by email.