|
Cost for the Monthly Event is $20 for members of PHRMA and Affiliated Organizations, $30 for guests.
Luncheon Topic: Unconscious Bias: Your Freudian Slip is Showing
Speaker: April Lewis & Carol French
Session Summary: Deep within our subconscious, all of us harbor biases that make us uncomfortable on a conscious level. All of us hold unconscious clichéd beliefs about social groups: black and white, female and male, elderly and young, gay and straight, fat and thin. And the worst part is: we act on them; at home and in the office.
Such implicit bias is far more prevalent than the more overt, or explicit, prejudice that we usually associate with bigoted behavior and discrimination.
Certain social scenarios can automatically activate implicit stereotypes and attitudes, which then can affect our perceptions, judgments and behavior, including the choice of whom to befriend, whom to hire and, in the case of doctors, even what treatment to deliver.
Recent research suggests we can reshape our implicit attitudes and beliefs—or at least curb their effects on our behavior.
Most organizations have spent years trying to eliminate overt acts of discrimination. The years we have spent doing diversity training and improving nondiscrimination laws means that, to a great extent, overt, intentional discrimination has been greatly reduced, however unconscious bias can still prevail, and effect decisions in the workplace. All organizations need to dig more deeply into the roots and underlying causes of bias and stereotypes. Current research indicates that moving to the next level and being able to sustain the gains made requires that people understand and deal with the judges in our brains: unconscious bias.
Join us to experience the subconscious mechanisms of unconscious bias and begin to explore how to curb their effect on our behavior.
Speaker Bio: April Lewis, in addition to being a partner in the consulting firm Figure 8 Consulting, is the Diversity Manager for Kaiser Permanente Northwest after having spent several years as the Diversity Manager for Multnomah County. April has more than 15 years’ experience in organizational development, diversity, and cultural competency. She engages audiences with her knowledge, skills, sense of humor, and her passion for combining fun with learning in her training sessions.
Carol French is the Managing Member of Figure 8 Consulting. Her background is in education, both at the high school and college levels. Her interactive training style was developed and refined in high school classrooms and on ropes courses where she operated with the philosophy that learning is best when it is experiential and involves the whole person. As a consultant, Carol has trained extensively for a variety of organizations including the State of Oregon, the Port of Portland, and several school districts, among others.
|
