Oct 27
We were discussing implicit biases and stereotype threats in 308 yesterday.
The definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary of “implicit” is 1a: capable of being understood from something else though unexpressed: implied; and 1b: involved in the nature or essence of something though not revealed, expressed, or developed: potential.
The definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary of “bias” is 1a: an inclination of temperament or outlook especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment: prejudice; and 1b: an instance of such prejudice.
Therefore an implicit bias is a “sometimes unreasoned judgement” that is “capable of being understood and/or involved in the nature or essence of something” despite not being intentionally stated or revealed.
An example of implicit bias is when teachers call on certain students more than others, but are unaware they are doing so. The challenge for teachers is to be cognizant of gender bias and allowing certain genders being able to talk more and more often than those of the other one.
How do we, as educators, come up with methods of combatting our implicit biases?
Take turns talking, “hands up if you haven’t been chosen yet”, go around in a circle. Or work your way through a class list, taking note of who has answered and who hasn’t. Maybe put students’ names in a hat and pull from it, or give students numbers between 0 and however many students you have, then note which numbers you call out.
Added Dec 9
Theatre and Film, I find, have many instances of implicit bias due to their nature of casting and reliance on network connections both in front of and behind the screen. In a first year philosophy course at Selkirk College, we discussed implicit bias and how some industries are combatting it by taking measures to eliminate, or at least reduce, the situations where implicit bias could affect choices made. For example, some law schools are taking names off applications so that they are just adjudicating/evaluating the credentials and not the names on the applications as “foreign” sounding names were less likely to get called back whereas “Eurocentric” names were more likely to get called back and those individuals brought in to be interviewed. Another example is when symphonies hold “blind” auditions where the musician auditions behind a screen so that the interviewers cannot see the person. That eliminates opportunities for not only implicit bias, but also racism, sexism, and racism to affect decisions.
Although these techniques wouldn’t work in theatre, as one must perform to an audience and their body language and how they present themselves is a very big part of the job, I think that techniques to reduce implicit bias should be explored.
