Implicit and unconscious bias should be paired together. Both can render a decision made into something categorically wrong for an organization.
Admit it, unconscious and implicit bias can pop up at any time, we must fight it, but it’s there. Behaviors we have been taught by family and by society are so ingrained in our actions, that it takes a lot of time to change them.
This can affect an assumption based on female/male, white or BIPOC, and foreign or citizen. It is prevalent in every way – a name Jazymine vs. Jasmine, a college, a credit score, and even a physical address. All of these can bring bias to job candidates – giving you the unconscious “interesting name, they must be “other than””, “Oh, they live there, they must be rich/poor”, or “Oh, they went to a historically Christian or Black school, they must be….”
Then there’s the in-person interview, can we really say we don’t judge if a person is wearing – what may be an obvious – old outfit, or bad shoes? We don’t guess that a person of color could be a different type of worker than a white person. Or that the non-binary person would be difficult to work with because of “name bias here”?
This is why many organizations and state positions find ways to neutralize applicant’s personal details and score based on the work they’ve done, and the person they are – not the person that is assumed. In addition, many other organizations prefer to train interview staff on unconscious and implicit bias so that all applicants get the same chance. The question is – if they can do it – why can’t everyone?
