Two years ago, my husband and a friend of his both began job searching at the same time due to company layoffs. My husband is a white male. His friend is an Hispanic male. My husband submitted between ten to twenty applications. He was hired within the same company in another position within a month. His friend submitted around one hundred applications, went through numerous interviews, and spent four months looking for a new job. Both men are highly qualified in the tech industry with managerial experience. Why did my husband get hired so quickly while his friend worked hard for months before receiving an offer at a different company? My husband would tell you it is due to the names at the top of the resume. He believes that many of the interviews his friend had were simply companies checking an inclusion box for their hiring process when they had no intention of pursuing him further. My husband and I just felt sick over what his friend had to go through to get hired. His friend told us this was normal for him and has shared other examples of similar discrimination. This friend recently purchased a home in an affluent neighborhood. The first time he met his neighbors, they assumed that he was renting.<\/p>\n
This reminds me of the words of Eliza Doolittle in the movie My Fair Lady<\/em>, \u201cThe difference between a flower girl and a lady is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.\u201d[i]<\/a> She goes on to explain that Professor Henry Higgins always treats her as a \u201ccommon flower girl,\u201d while Colonel Pickering treats her like a lady. Pragya Agarwal describes this type of behavior in her book Sway: Unraveling Unconscious Bias<\/em>. She writes, \u201cThese terms are now being used to explain everyday discriminatory behavior.\u201d[ii]<\/a> Agarwal further explains, \u201cNot all bias is implicit. Unconscious bias does not explain all prejudice and discrimination\u2026 Awareness is the first step. Only then can we begin to address it.\u201d[iii]<\/a> Unconscious bias comes in many forms beyond the obvious of gender, racial, or social discrimination. In her book, she discusses many subtle ways in which we form unconscious bias. Homophily, \u201cthe tendency of individuals to associate and bond with similar others,\u201d is one form.[iv]<\/a> Agarwal argues that \u201cPeople want to be with people like themselves.\u201d[v]<\/a> She talks about looks, accents, race, and other ways in which we seek the familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can also be reliably shown through brain imaging that people are not just favourably inclined towards people who are the same as them (in-group favouritism or familiarity and confirmation bias) but also often actively biased against those who are outside their group (out-group derogation).\u201d[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n Not only do we seek the familiar, but we reject the unfamiliar. Our dear friend faced rejection repeatedly in his job hunt because he did not meet the unconscious requirement of familiarity. If it is unconscious, do we have any hope of overcoming it? Recognizing that they exist is the first step. Then we must begin to diversify our interactions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more positive contact we have with people from different ethnic groups, the less likely we are to form the notion of threat associated with unfamiliar faces, and the less likely we are to imbibe the stereotypical messages that we receive from words and images in the media around us. Diversity therefore becomes critical, especially for our children, to normalise the multicultural world that we live in.\u201d [vii]<\/a><\/p>\n One of my favorite things about our cohort is the diversity, not only of gender and race, but also of ideas, viewpoints, and passions. I am grateful to be encouraged and challenged each week by our interactions. I am inspired to seek out experiences that are new and different. I lean into the Global Perspectives aspect of this program so that I may confront my own unconscious bias. Last weekend, my husband and I went to a basketball game in Sacramento. Walking along the streets of downtown near the arena, I noticed the people around me. As we passed by people who looked different than me, I consciously challenged my thoughts. I ignored that first split second urge to move away, to clutch my purse tighter out of fear.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to take responsibility for our inherent biases, and that\u2019s when we can take control of them. Unconscious bias is also problematic to capture and accurately pinpoint because it is hidden and can often be in contrast to what we consider our beliefs and associations to be.\u201d[viii]<\/a><\/p>\n I have not conquered my unconscious bias, but I am taking control of what I can.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [i]<\/a> My Fair Lady<\/em>, directed by George Cukor (1964, Warner Bros).<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unraveling Unconscious Bias<\/em>. (London, Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020), pg. 10.<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a> Pragya, pg. 11.<\/p>\n [iv]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid.,\u00a0pg. 152.<\/p>\n [v]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid., pg. 152.<\/p>\n [vi]<\/a> Ibid., pg. 99.<\/p>\n