Unconscious Bias: Report on AIPPI D&I Committee’s 7 October Webinar

You received a legal memo written by Thomas Meyer, a Caucasian associate at your firm (or company) who went to a top law school. Upon review, you find that the memo has 22 errors, from spelling errors to fact mistakes to analysis errors. How would you evaluate this associate? Now, suppose that Thomas Meyer is an African American associate. How would you rate this associate now?

This is a famous study on bias called the “Thomas Meyer Memo,” which was cited during AIPPI Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee’s October 7th webinar on Unconscious Bias. In this research, 60 partners at 22 different law firms were asked to rate Thomas Meyer based on the memo, and they gave 4.1/5.0 rating when they were told that Thomas Meyer was a Caucasian (with comments that he “has potential” and is a “generally good writer but needs to work on . . . ”) and 3.2/5.0 rating when they were told that Thomas Meyer was an African American (with comments that he “needs a lot of work” and is “average at best”). The “Thomas Meyer Memo” is an effective example of how unconscious biases affect our perceptions and judgments.

The webinar—hosted by Lisa Mueller, co-chair of AIPPI D&I Committee, with Lara Kayode and Committee members Ulla Allgayer and Alessandra Vitagliano joining as speakers —explained that we all have unconscious biases, whether based on past experiences, cultural norms or assumptions. In fact, it is natural to have conscious and unconscious biases as they are rooted in our evolutionary history: they evolved from our ancestors’ need to make rapid, survival-based decisions. For example, organizing information into categories was a mental shortcut that allowed our ancestors to quickly differentiate between friend and foe. Each second, our brains take in a massive amount of information—about 11 million pieces per second—and we can consciously process only about 40 of those 11 million pieces per second. Thus, our brains rely heavily on our subconscious minds to process information, and this is done through mental shortcuts.

We are, by nature, hard-wired to have unconscious biases. Unconscious biases happen automatically, triggered by our brains making quick judgments and opinions. These behaviors happen most frequently when we are under pressure, multitasking or in a hurry. But such quick decision-making can be prone to error.

Recognizing the pervasiveness and impact of unconscious biases in our everyday life and decision-making is a powerful first step in facing and addressing unconscious biases. We all bring our unconscious biases to the workplace, and these biases can influence our decision-making. It is important to recognize how unconscious biases can impact our decisions and our interactions with our colleagues. For example, when your preferences impact another person or group, you are most likely demonstrating a bias. Being aware of these biases—which are like the bottom of an iceberg hidden under the water—will enable us to take steps to eliminate or reduce the impact of biases in our decision-making. As one of the speakers mentioned, “knowledge is a progressive process of emancipation from prejudgment.”

With this lesson on the importance of awareness, the webinar suggested concrete strategies and practice points for addressing unconscious biases at workplace. For example: intentional self-reflection; taking time to make decisions; journaling; active listening; forming and surrounding yourself with a diverse team that can provide diverse perspectives and opinions; education and training; cultivating mentorship programs and asking colleagues, mentors or mentees to help spot your blind spots; blind recruitment; rotating team leadership; and using inclusive leader metrics. The webinar suggested many tools to address, reduce and eliminate the impact of unconscious biases from our workplace, which will ultimately elevate our practice, foster greater trust and promote fairness in our systems. It will all start with being mindful of the existence of unconscious biases, recognizing our own biases, and making efforts to address them in our decision-making.