Understanding Implicit Bias

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Understanding Implicit Bias

Implicit bias is defined as the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.

Admitting and identifying personal biases can be difficult. Nearly two decades of scientific research has persuasively demonstrated that each of us harbor implicit bias even if we seem to hold no explicit prejudice. Society is saturated with stereotypes about social groups and people that encompass a range of intersectional identities. Over time these feelings and beliefs can become more ingrained.

In conjunction with the Open Your Mind: Understanding Implicit Bias learning lab, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center invites you to explore implicit bias by recognizing your own set of biases and beliefs.

To learn about what biases play a role in your life, we invite you to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. A product of the Project Implicit initiative created by Harvard University, the IAT is designed to help you recognize and identify the unconscious biases that we all harbor.

Contact

Interested in learning more? Contact us at implicitbias@nurfc.org for training information, speaker requests or further information.