This document discusses implicit bias and strategies to address it within USAID. It defines implicit bias as unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that influence perceptions and decisions. While implicit biases are pervasive and may favor one's own group, they do not necessarily align with explicit beliefs and can be malleed. The document recommends raising awareness of implicit bias, practicing mindfulness, increasing contact with diverse colleagues, and using perspective taking to reduce implicitly biased responses. It suggests exposure, education, and higher-level cognitive processes as approaches to debias perceptions over time. The overarching message is to foster awareness, encourage accountability, and help USAID workers STOMP out bias.

2. ‫٭‬ Describe what implicit bias means in the workplace.
‫٭‬ Differentiate involuntary Implicit Bias responses when
working with diverse people.
‫٭‬ Confirm that being implicitly biased does not necessarily
mean we act in explicitly biased ways.
‫٭‬ Identify behaviors that may suggest bias or differential
treatment in the future.
‫٭‬ Outline techniques that help debias perceptions and

3. USAID works with diverse people across the globe.
‫٭‬ The goal of this learning module is to bring to light implicit biases and thereby,
enable USAID workers to have a greater impact on the world they so humbly
serve work to improve.
‫٭‬ Reflect on how we think, what we feel, and do without even realizing; how do
we individually see the world?
‫٭‬ Use strategies learned and remember, life is about practice , the more we try,
the better we get!
Source: www.wikinut.com

4. ‫٭‬Content may arose feelings of unease
‫٭‬Be open to unlearning and relearning
‫٭‬Keep an open mind; listen actively
Source: www.youcangoleft.com

5. ‫٭‬Neuroscientists estimate that the human brain processes about 11 million
pieces of information in a second
‫٭‬We are only consciously aware of a fraction of that data, maybe 40 at most
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hZ98an9wjo

6. Definition
Implicit Bias: attitudes or stereotypes that affect our
understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious
manner; activated involuntarily and without an individual’s
awareness or intentional control.
Source: www.psychologytoday.com

7. ‫٭‬Implicit biases are pervasive
‫٭‬Favor our own in-group
‫٭‬Do not necessarily align with our declared beliefs
‫٭‬Implicit biases are malleable
Source: blog.brainpathways.net

8. ‫٭‬Those who look or sound different to us
‫٭‬Those we struggle to relate to; no commonalities
‫٭‬Those with different values or attitudes
‫٭‬Those who appear weak or unhealthy
‫٭‬Those who have very different backgrounds to us
Source: http://intradayfun.com/2013/04/just-stay-away/

9. ‫٭‬May irreparably damage reputation
‫٭‬Lawsuits
‫٭‬Poor focus and productivity
‫٭‬Debilitating to countries requiring assistance
‫٭‬Loss of commitment/motivation to help
‫٭‬Poor work atmosphere
Source:raisingsmallsouls.com

10. Source: www.playbuzz.com

11. Indeed, we are all have a bias blind spot.
Source: https://www.thedropp.com

12. Source: www.halfwayupthemountain.com

13. EDUCATION
•Contact
•Positive exemplars
•Environment
EXPOSURE
•Awareness
•Mindfulness
APPROACH
•Higher level processing, e.g.
,writing
•Reduced cognitive load
•Checklists
•Procedural / organizational changes

14. ‫٭‬ Awareness
‫٭‬ Mindfulness
Be aware and remain mindful; intuition and implicit
responses are valuable, but some decisions
require a more explicit kind of thinking, a stare
not a blink.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oZtx8vVnA0

15. ‫٭‬ Contact
‫٭‬ Positive exemplars
‫٭‬ Perspective taking
Make contact with positive, diverse USAID colleagues
and exemplars and always practice taking the “other”
perspective; all contribute to decreasing implicitly
biased response.
Source: www.executive-velocity.com

16. ‫٭‬Foster awareness.
‫٭‬Hold yourself—and your colleagues—accountable.
‫٭‬Encourage USAIDers to STOMP out bias.
Source: www.reelseo.comSource: kenj91.deviantart.com

17. Be a Change Agent

18. CARNEGIE. (n.d). Researchers Find Everyone Has a Bias Blind Spot-CMU News - Carnegie Mellon
University. Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/june/bias-blind-spot.html
Kirwan Institute. (2015). Understanding Implicit Bias. Retrieved from
http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/
MTV's Look Different. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lookdifferent.org/what-can-i-do/bias-cleanse
Project Implicit. (2011). Preliminary Information. Retrieved from
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html