The test I decided to take was for age implicit bias. From my results it shows that I have a slight automatic preference for young people rather than old people. These results seem interesting as I normally feel like I do not have a specific preference. The reason for this is because I will like or get along with people that align with what I believe. In my mind it does not matter what a persons age is as long as our views align. I can see how I lean more towards younger people as I am younger, but did not realize I had a slight bias. It was not something I realized and am in a sense shocked to learn this about myself. While I am shocked, it is understandable due to my age. It is just something I did not know until now.
Implicit bias could impact the selection process for a couple of reasons. The first one is because the person making the selection could believe the candidate is old. This is age discrimination and there was an Older Workers Benefit Protection Act to protect older employees (W3 Lecture 3 – Major EEO Laws). Having a bias on older people is something that seems like it may not be a big deal, but it is since being older does not mean that you are incapable of a job. Another bias that could impact the selection process would be is a person is disabled. This goes against the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA (W3 Lecture 3 – Major EEO Laws). The last impact could be a bias of someone of a different race. A recruiter could be less likely to select someone due to their race which is another form of bias. While these are just three examples of implicit bias, they can be a major issues with selection.
One thing I could do to prevent implicit bias would be to not let my personal bias take over my decisions. While implicit bias is something that everyone has, it also seems to be that some people hold onto them much more than others. This meaning I would not hold my biases too close to me when making selections. If someone is the perfect candidate then I would not want my own bias to get in the way of someone else succeeding. I would develop a system within myself to counteract my own biases by working hard to not let them be the overall point in the selection process.
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