Gwenevere Tatara
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Lesa Kent
Research Mentor School/College/Department: City of Detroit – Civil Rights, Inclusion & Opportunity department / NonUM
Program: UROP
Session: Session 7 (4:40pm – 5:30pm)
Authors: Gwen Tatara, Lesa Kent
Abstract
In current social research, there is a push to improve intergroup relations in professional and interpersonal settings, however trainings of this nature are often dry and do not offer tangible ways for participants to make meaningful changes in their lives. Additionally, the majority of cultural competence and unconscious bias trainings have been shown to be ineffective in impacting participants’ behaviors in the long term. Finally, Detroit is an increasingly diversifying community, a 2023 Census reported that the area is majority African American with growing Middle Eastern and Hispanic populations. A major goal of this training is to tailor content to the community it is designed to serve. To create the training, I conducted sociological and psychological research on the negative effects unconscious bias as well as studies that explored the effectiveness of other trainings. I also did an audit of other training from private companies, as well as met with community nonprofits to get input. I also drafted and helped distribute a survey for residents and incorporated their feedback in the training. Lastly, I conducted historical research on Detroit’s social justice history.The major findings of this research was that the most effective training activities help participants recognize their own bias and find concrete ways to mitigate its effects. I also found significant historical discussions of institutional racism in Metro Detroit such as the epidemic of redlining. Additionally, most people initially have an idea of what cultural competence and bias is but cannot point to specific examples in their lives and behavior. Participants in my research are the City of Detroit citizens and employees. The final product for my project is the unconscious Bias and Cultural Competency training presentation that my mentor is going to present to interested residents of Detroit as well as City of Detroit employees.
