@Gregory Thein You are 100% correct. This IS an example of unconscious, or implicit, bias. Implicit bias is something that EVERYONE has. It is an evolutionary tactic that is our unconscious response that takes over before or while we are collecting more information about a situation. For example, that nervous feeling you may get when you see a lion in front of you, that's an unconscious response based on millennia of lessons learned from early humans needing to protect themselves against predators. But, then you start to gather more information (for example, are you and that lion separated by a strong metal fence?) and the conscious takes over to decide how you will respond in that situation. The same thing goes for implicit biases we ALL have. As I mentioned in the panel, my unconscious physiological response when entering an unknown group of mostly cis-het white men with my same-sex partner is an anxious feeling in my gut (and this is based on prior experience that have happened to me and other LGBTQ+ people in society, including but not limited to name calling, harassment, and even as far as death threats).
Implicit/unconscious bias is not inherently bad, it is what you do with it that matters! First is to recognize when it occurs (with practice you can recognize these in yourself, or you may have others point them out to you), then interrogate why those implicit biases are occurring (are they coming from a place of self-protective "survival" or are they based on unjust or unfair messages in society?), then decide how you will consciously respond to it (for example, I recognize that anxious feeling I have, but I am consciously choosing to push through it to participate in the work gathering and talk with and learn more about the people there). All the while, as I am consciously pushing through that anxious feeling to put myself in this situation, I'm collecting contextual clues to determine how safe I feel being "out" in that environment. For example, are the other people making derogatory remarks about other marginalized groups, are they using inclusive language, are they acknowledging my partner and treating them with respect, etc.
My experience of unconscious bias described here about people in the "majority" group is one example, but the same steps should apply when we encounter unconscious bias about people in a marginalized group (e.g. when reviewing resumes, when meeting new people, etc.): (1) recognize that the implicit bias exists (and it may take having some external people help point that out to you before you get good at recognizing it yourself); (2) interrogate where that implicit bias is coming from; (3) make a conscious decision on how to respond to that implicit bias; and (4) collect more data and context clues about the person/people beyond the first thing that initiated that unconscious response to make a fair assessment of the person/people.
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Patricia Clayton Ph.D., A.M.ASCE
Assistant Professor
Austin TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-23-2021 10:39 AM
From: Gregory Thein
Subject: Becoming an LGBTQ+ Ally and Showing PRIDE in Civil Engineering
Could anxiety when bringing a same-gender spouse to groups 'made up of predominantly cisgender, heterosexual, white men' be considered unconscious bias? It's basically assuming they will react a certain way solely because of their gender, sexual preference, and/or race.
"Unconscious Bias: Unconscious biases, also known as implicit biases, are the underlying attitudes and stereotypes that people unconsciously attribute to another person or group of people that affect how they understand and engage with a person or group."
Food for thought.
GT
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Greg Thein, PE
Cleveland, OH
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