For this exercise, I took an Implicit Attitude Test focusing on race. Similar to what I had expected, or at least hoped, my results were little to no association between race and association between perpetrator and victim. However, I could see at the set up of this test what it was trying to test, and I am in a unique position as a Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major, who studies race and positionality, and therefore, indirectly, bias, to already be constantly checking my assumptions regarding to all forms of identity.
Part of why I chose my major is because I believe that implicit bias does have a strong impact on decision-making and that many people are not aware of the beliefs they hold that reinforce dominant and oppressive systems. Biases that people hold are shaped by where they grew up, what media they are exposed to, and who they meet. People may be aware of some biases, but unaware of others, and may even be defensive of these faults, especially in the age of cancel culture which does not encourage reflection and growth.
I’ve been asked several times as a WGSS major what my thoughts are on EEO, and I think it surprises people that I don’t necessarily think it is the answer. As noted in “Lecture 4” from Week 3, managers often feel these decisions are forced upon them and take away their discretion, and they don’t get to the root of the problem, systemic inequality, and implicit biases reinforced by culture. Instead, I think exercises like this, which allow people to privately address and receive education about implicit bias are helpful, and create change from the bottom up. Ultimately, I think education and focus on individual change will radiate out to create cultural change that will reshape communities and undermine and eliminate implicit bias, rather than simply enforcing EEO procedures that can cause automatic defensiveness and do not encourage personal growth.
