4 Implicit bias

A key place to start understanding allyship is to identify the areas that can challenge equity efforts for all of us. To disrupt long-standing assumptions about human thinking and behaviour, we need to recognize our own thinking and behaviour. And to apply this to active allyship, we should comprehend the concept like implicit bias.

What is implicit bias?

Implicit bias, also referred to as unconscious or hidden bias, involves automatic, unintentional attitudes or stereotypes that influence how people think and act. These biases operate below the level of conscious awareness, meaning individuals may not realize they hold them. Research has shown that implicit biases can significantly shape behaviuor and decision-making, often contradicting a person’s stated beliefs in equality and fairness. In many cases, these hidden biases override conscious intentions, leading to actions that do not align with one’s professed values.

• Implicit biases are unconscious attitudes and stereotypes (Ruhl, 2020).
• Implicit biases are often formed from a person’s lived experience and past observations, which are naturally limited to the individual’s perspective and should not be applied in a generalized way.
• Implicit bias can influence educators’ interactions with students, often without their awareness, by making assumptions about students’ abilities and needs based on their identity attributes.
• These biases are present in our systems (education, healthcare, government, justice, workplace, community).
• As educators, we need to unpack the impact of these biases on our students and show how these systems interact and inform each other.

An example of implicit bias with positive and negative attributes is seeing all Asians as a “model minority”. Meaning they are considered quiet, polite, obedient, respectful, hardworking, and disciplined. Even though these can be considered positive traits, assuming everyone from this group has them can lead to automatic beliefs that shape how we respond. Likewise, stereotypes about race can affect what we expect from people, such as believing Asian students will do better academically or thinking Indigenous students are less capable or less hardworking. These kinds of assumptions can prevent us from understanding the full complexity of a person’s identity.

As an aspiring ally, you will need to learn about bias in all forms to identify and address these thoughts and ideas within yourself. Learning more about bias will help you identify where these concepts impact the classroom.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a widely used tool for measuring implicit biases related to race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and other social categories. There are many bias tests available as part of your ongoing journey: another example is from Learning for Justice of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).