As part of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' service to members, engineers and professionals in technical industries worldwide, we host a series of free training webinars. The slides were used in a free training webinar on Unconscious bias. The webinar explores the neuroscience behind bias and reviews some of the bias that potentially influences your decision making.

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User guide
Questions / comments: chat box
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Today’s moderator
Andy Webber

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Today’s guest speaker
Sarah Thompson

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Unconscious Bias –
an insight into how we really
make decisions

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Agenda and objectives
• What is unconscious bias is and why is it
important
• The science and how the brain controls us
at a deeper level
• Our biases & how they might influence our
personal style
• Strategies to help manage our bias

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What do you think
a bias is?

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Where does bias
come from?

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• A bias is a mental lens/filter we use to view the
world.
• Biases come from experience, culture, upbringing,
beliefs and are heavily influenced by our values.
• Everyone's biases are different.
• Today is therefore not about eradicating your bias
– it’s about raising awareness.
What is bias?

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Daniel Kahneman
Decision Making
System 1
Thinking
System 2
Thinking

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How the brain works
ConsciousUnconscious

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 Compared to the conscious brain, the
unconscious can hold
a) 10 times more information
b) 50
c) 100
d) More than that
Poll

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Unconscious
or Fast Thinking is:
• Automatic
• Lightening fast
• Generates strong
feelings of certainty
• Intuitive
• Assumptive
• Pattern matches
• Old, reptilian brain
which deals with
flight or flight
Conscious
or Slow Thinking is:
• Rational
• Requires effort – slow
and can be lazy!
• Logical
• Deliberate
• Structured
• Examines, calculates and
considers evidence.
• Newer Neo Cortex Brain

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Our brain decides for us our
areas of priority
What does this mean for us?
• We sometimes don’t see or hear what is
right in front of us
• We miss opportunities because our focus is
elsewhere
• Our ‘unconscious’ brain will often decides
what's important and what isn’t

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How does bias impact you?
• What biases have you seen in the engineering
world?

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How does bias impact you?
• What biases have you seen in the engineering
world?
• Engineers are not “good” with people
• Flexible working opportunities are not available if you
want to progress
• Engineers must have a degree to be ‘considered’ an
engineer
• Engineers are introverts
• Engineers are always right
• Engineers are good problem solvers

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Why bias matters…
Bias potentially impacts…
- Decision making
- Inclusion and diversity
- Engagement and wellbeing
- Interpersonal relationships
- Individual and team performance

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Types of biases
•Affinity
• Confirmation

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Affinity bias
• Having a connection or preference
for someone due to familiarity or
personality similarities
• Your mind generates justifications
even if their performance isn't’t
quite as good as another person
that you don’t gel with
• Sometimes referred to as the Halo
and Horn effect

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Confirmation bias
• Making decisions which confirms
the beliefs or preconceived ideas
we hold
• We look for evidence which
confirms our beliefs and disregard
alternative evidence

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The Role of Gut Instinct
• Gut comes from instinct, experience and is
influenced by your values
• Don’t follow it blindly
• Don’t ignore it
• Don’t look for information to confirm it
• Use it as data

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Microbehaviours
•Verbal cues
•Behavioural cues

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Managing our biases
How can you…
Recognise, raise awareness
and reduce bias both for
yourself and others in your
environment?

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Top Tips
• Talk about bias
• Don’t generalise
• Stop – think – act
• Consider the opinions of others
• Consider micro behaviours
• Take the Harvard ‘IAT’ (Implicit
Association Test)

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We have
 Discussed what unconscious bias is and
why its important to us
 Reviewed some of our biases
 Considered how they might influence
our personal style
 Started to develop strategies to help
manage our bias
To sum up

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Thank you!

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Any questions?