Leading Libraries Series: Leading for Inclusion

Challenges to inclusive practice

Recognising bias

How a person thinks depends on their life experiences and sometimes they have beliefs and views about other people that might not be right or reasonable. This is known as 'unconscious bias' and includes when a person thinks:

• better of someone because they believe they're alike
• less of someone because that person is different to them, for example, they might be of a different race, religion or age.

This means they could make a decision influenced by false beliefs or assumptions which are nothing to do with the individual concerned but are simply about a generalised group that the person is seen to belong to. This is also called 'stereotyping'. Everyone can think in a way that involves unconscious bias at some point, but it's important to be aware of it and not let it affect behaviour or decisions.

How does unconscious bias arise?

As we outlined in 'The Big Idea' – a 'bias’ is a disproportionate sway for or against an idea or thing. It is usually a closed-mindset, prejudicial, or unfair and it is often wrong. Biases are mostly learned; people develop biases for or against certain individuals, groups, or belief systems.

Our brains rely on mental templates that enable us to make meaning based on previous experiences. These neural networks of meaning make it easy for our brain to categorise, recognise and interpret the world we live in. To learn more about the impacts of these unconscious assumptions, watch this short video by the Royal Society on Understanding unconscious bias.

There is a helpful introductory article on unconscious bias on the Learning for Justice website. The article contains a link to the Harvard Implicit Associate test (IAT). ‘Project Implicit’ provides a series of robust tests that can help you discover your biases in a number of areas - Harvard Implicit Association Test (IAT). Completing one or more questionnaires that are of interest to you will help you to become aware of what is shaping your behaviours and decision-making as a leader. This makes you more aware of when and why to challenge your own thinking and behaviours. As the disclaimer states, you may not agree with the results but the test is well established and so is likely to offer insights that are hard to come by in our day-to-day life.

Individual reflection

Reflect on the results of any IAT test(s) that you choose to take. Consider the following questions:

• What results, if any, surprised me and why?
• What might be the impact of my biases on how I relate (include/exclude) others in the work place?
• What might be the impact of my biases on how I relate (include/exclude) to others in the work place?
• What might be the impact of my biases on how I relate (include/exclude) to service users?
• What actions can I take to help mitigate the negative impact of my biases?

Continue to: Dynamics of exclusion