Diversity & Inclusion

We All Have It – How to Recognize and Interrupt Unconscious Bias

September 17, 2021
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Despite our best intentions, research shows we all have it – unconscious, unintentional bias. Unconscious attitudes and beliefs are shaped by all kinds of influences – some of which we would not agree with or accept on a conscious level.

Yet, these unconscious thoughts influence decision-making and can have a profound impact in the workplace on talent management decisions, including recruiting and hiring. The key is to learn how to recognize your own unconscious biases as well as practical ways to interrupt them.

In this interactive DE&I leadership workshop, guest speaker Kathleen Nalty lead lawyers and staff through the following concepts:

  • Unconscious bias – how it is formed
  • Implicit cognitive biases and how to interrupt them
  • 10 hidden barriers that cause higher attrition rates for attorneys in underrepresented groups
  • How to recognize implicit bias in ourselves
  • Specific research-based strategies for interrupting or mitigating individual biases
  • What law firms are doing to fight bias at an organizational level
    • Inclusion nudges and bias interrupters
    • Specific changes in recruiting and hiring processes to interrupt bias
  • Cognitive biases that are implicated in hybrid work models and how they can be addressed
  • Development of personal action plans to interrupt implicit bias