“Everyday Bias is an outstanding work that belongs on the desk, coffee table, library, book bag, briefcase, and e-reader of everyone and anyone who has contact with people. Yes, we are biased and we are able to reframe our biases and reprogram our biased responses and lead productive, positive lives that influence others in a positive manner.” Sonja V. Harry, PhD, LMSW, ACSW, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Winston-Salem State University.
Are you biased? May as well ask, “are you human”? Because if you are human, you are biased. Howard Ross, diversity expert, explores this fundamental truth and the biases we each hold. Most of us do not see ourselves as biased towards people of different races, genders, or religious/cultural backgrounds, and yet, disparities remain in virtually every area of modern life. Even in corporate America, which has seemed to embrace the idea of diversity, patterns of disparity remain rampant. Why?
Recent breakthroughs in the cognitive and neurosciences provide insight into why our results are inconsistent with our intentions. Bias is a survival mechanism that is fundamental to our identity, it is natural to the human mind. It is overwhelmingly unconscious. Ross helps readers understand how and why unconscious bias impacts our daily lives, particularly our daily work lives, incorporating anecdotes from today’s headlines as well as case studies from over 30 years of research. And, most importantly, he answers the question: “Is there anything we can do about it?”, offering ways we can become less unconsciously biased towards people who are different from us.
