Breah Marie Willy
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Research Mentor(s): Joshua Pasek
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Communication and Media / LSA
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Josh Pasek, Kayla Acton, Breah Marie Willy
Abstract
There have been multiple studies conducted to test the effectiveness of training programs to reduce implicit racial biases in workplace, education, law enforcement, medical, and other settings. Not all of these programs, however, have proven effective. This raises questions about both what constitutes an effective or ineffective implicit bias training as well as what features of those trainings make them effective. Implicit bias training is an intervention that educates participants on their unconscious biases, and the purpose of this study is to discover the specific characteristics that render an implicit bias training successful in reducing participant bias with a goal of creating a more open-minded community. For this study we analyzed 50+ articles testing the effectiveness of an implicit bias training program and they were sorted into two categories: effective and ineffective. We then sorted through the different categories to discover which particular features proved to be effective in reducing implicit bias, and which features had little or no effect on decreasing predisposed biases in participants. An analysis of these categories led us to conclude that implicit bias training programs that increased awareness of the commonality of implicit biases, created a safe space, and incorporated engaging and discussion-surrounded activities are all features that lead to a significant decrease in implicit bias than programs that lacked these features. On the other hand, one major commonality between implicit bias trainings that were unsuccessful in reducing bias are programs that solely lectured and did not engage the audience in any way. As systemic racism continues to adversely affect people of color in the United States, it is important that implicit bias trainings are handled with care and are focused on effectiveness to ensure that as a community, we are actively working to reduce any prejudiced predispositions we may have. These findings add more concrete steps that a company, university, or police force could take to ensure that implicit bias training is successful in reducing bias.
