Promoting institutional change through bias literacy.

Abstract

The National Science Foundation and others conclude that institutional transformation is required to ensure equal opportunities for the participation and advancement of men and women in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Such transformation requires changing the habitual attitudes and behaviors of faculty. Approaching implicit bias as a remediable habit, we present the theoretical basis and conceptual model underpinning an educational intervention to promote bias literacy among university faculty as a step toward institutional transformation regarding gender equity. We describe the development and implementation of a Bias Literacy Workshop in detail so others can replicate or adapt it to their setting. Of the 220 (167 faculty and 53 nonfaculty) attendees from the initial 17 departments/divisions offered this workshop, all 180 who completed a written evaluation found the workshop at least “somewhat useful” and 74% found it “very useful.” Over 68% indicated increased knowledge of the workshop material. Of the 186 participants who wrote a commitment to engage in new activities to promote gender equity, 87% incorporated specific workshop content. Twenty-four participants were interviewed 4–6 months after attending the workshop; 75% of these not only demonstrated increased bias awareness, but described plans to change—or had actually changed—behaviors because of the workshop. Based on our sample of faculty from a Midwestern university, we conclude that at least one third of STEMM faculty who are invited will attend a 2.5-hr Bias Literacy Workshop, that nearly all will find it useful, and that most will complete a written commitment to promoting gender equity. These findings suggest that this educational intervention may effectively promote institutional change regarding gender equity.

Stuck in the Out-Group: Jennifer Can't Grow Up, Jane's Invisible, and Janet's Over the Hill

“…3 Addressing stereotype-based gender bias is critical for the future of academic medicine. Interventions that treat gender bias as a remediable habit show promise in promoting gender equity 9 and transforming institutional culture [23][24][25][26][27] to achieve the full participation of women at all career stages. A critical step is to recognize when gender stereotyped assumptions are influencing judgments and decision making in ourselves and others, challenge them as unjust, and deliberately practice replacing them with accurate and objective data.…”

“…2,3 Most people are unaware that gender stereotypes influence their judgment and lead to unintended consequences. 2,3,9 With adjustments to preserve anonymity, we present the cases of Jennifer, Jane, and Janet as illustrative examples of how gender stereotypes can operate subtly in informal social interactions to perpetuate women's out-group status and deter their advancement in academic medicine.…”

Physicians and Implicit Bias: How Doctors May Unwittingly Perpetuate Health Care Disparities

“…Conceptualizing implicit bias as a "habit of mind" provides a useful framework for developing interventions. [53][54][55] This approach allows mobilization of a large body of work on facilitating intentional behavioral change. 53 As with any behavioral change, individuals need to become aware of their habitual engagement in an undesirable behavior and be provided with strategies to increase self-efficacy to engage in a new desirable behavior.…”

“…[53][54][55] This approach allows mobilization of a large body of work on facilitating intentional behavioral change. 53 As with any behavioral change, individuals need to become aware of their habitual engagement in an undesirable behavior and be provided with strategies to increase self-efficacy to engage in a new desirable behavior. 56 The study by Green et al provides an example of how simply increasing physicians' awareness of their susceptibility to implicit bias changes behavior.…”

Quality of evidence revealing subtle gender biases in science is in the eye of the beholder

“…However, despite rigorous training in the objective evaluation of information and resultant values (2), people working and learning within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) community are still prone to the same subtle biases that subvert objectivity and distort accurate perceptions of scientific evidence by the general public (3,4). We focus here on the robust gender biases documented repeatedly within the psychological literature (5)(6)(7).…”