Implicit Bias | Lesson 6: Countermeasures

Implicit bias can cause discrimination even with a desire for fairness. The science on mitigating biases is evolving, but three key strategies are mindset, debiasing, and decoupling.

The mindset strategy involves three components: first, be humble and acknowledge that everyone is vulnerable to biases; second, be mindful by slowing down thoughts and behaviors, especially when tired or stressed; and third, be internally motivated to be fair, rather than driven by external consequences.

Debiasing aims to reshape implicit biases, which are often formed by media and popular culture. This can be achieved through meaningful exposure to counter-typical exemplars (e.g., female scientists, Latino doctors) in diverse communities and through the media we consume. A helpful exercise is stereotype replacement: recognize, label, reflect, and replace biased thoughts with counter-examples.

Decoupling involves breaking the link between bias and behavior by designing procedures and structures that prevent predictable failures due to human error. Examples include capping unconstrained discretion by agreeing on merit criteria, adopting standardized evaluation forms, adding structure to interviews, diversifying search committees, and using metrics and data to identify and correct for bias.

No one is immune to bias, and everyone is still learning. By working together in good faith, we can build equity for all through these strategies and continuous effort.