What is Implicit Bias?

Karen Steinhauser—a judge, attorney and former prosecutor—first began to analyze the effect of hidden biases while teaching advocacy skills as they pertain to jury selection. She encountered many preconceptions associated with stereotypes: teachers were too soft; engineers and scientists were too rigid; older people were too judgmental; younger people too immature. Recognizing these beliefs were coming from the unconscious parts of the brain, she began asking questions and delving deeper.

As many of us now know, she discovered that gender bias was endemic in many professions. For example, women lawyers were being mistaken for someone other than a lawyer, female pilots were wrongly identified as flight attendants, male nurses were thought to be doctors and female physicians were assumed to be nurses. Beyond gender, Karen further observed implicit biases about many characteristics, such as race, age, religion, weight, appearance, disabilities, accents, gender identity, sexuality, single parents, stay-at-home moms and dads, kids with pink hair, people with tattoos and piercings—the list goes on.