In recent months, Radboud University and Radboudumc have held several workshops to raise awareness about unconscious bias in the workplace. In the meantime, social psychologists and communication scientists from Radboud University are conducting research into the effectiveness of these types of interventions. ‘We know that some parts of the intervention are effective in the lab, but are they also effective in practice?’ How do you create a safe work environment that accounts for differences between people and that makes everyone feels comfortable? This is not a simple task. In the most mundane situations, such as having a chat at the coffee machine, or in more formal ones such as having a discussion with your supervisor, a question or a comment can sometimes be painful or discriminatory to the other person, even if it is well-intentioned. In collaboration with Crux Creaties, Radboud University and Radboudumc have collected descriptions of familiar situations in the workplace and used them as input for of an interactive workshop. These ‘Unconscious Bias Theater Workshops’ use short scenes to illustrate how problematic our unconscious biases can be. Are the workshops effective? “We all have biases. Our brains are constantly forming expectations about the world around us, including expectations about other people. And most of the time that is not problematic,” says social psychologist Gijs Bijlstra. “In many cases we don't react blindly according to bias. The vast majority of people want to treat others fairly.” “It only becomes a problem if someone's biases harm others,” adds communication scientist Joël Hendrix. Hendrix and Bijlstra are part of a team of scientists investigating the effect of interventions – such as these workshops – on the public. Hendrix: “How long do the insights provided by such an intervention last with its attendees? And will viewing the scenes in the workshop lead to behavioural change in the long term?' The researchers use questionnaires to measure the effect of the workshops – before, immediately after and four months after they take place. Bijlstra: “For us, it was ideal that we could connect our research to these workshops. Previous research had been done into how you can make people aware of their unconscious biases.” “But these were lab studies,” explains Hendrix. “We wanted to know whether this approach also works in a real-life setting. This research can help us answer this question.” Bijlstra and Hendrix are particularly interested in the interactive nature of the workshop. “Other types of interventions such as an informative text or video can also raise awareness, but this workshop confronts you more directly with your own biases. Moreover, you are encouraged to think actively about the scenes that are presented.” Constant attention Although results from the study on effectiveness of the Unconscious Bias Theater Workshops will not be available for some time, Hendrix and Bijlstra are convinced that initiatives should be taken to ensure that (unconscious) bias does not lead to racism and discrimination. “In the last two years, partly due to the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the attention for unconscious bias has grown. For example, the Dutch police recently announced that they would take a tougher approach to racism and discrimination in their workforce.” At the same time, the underlying processes involved in the formation of biases remain intact. New societal groups can quickly emerge and may also subject to be affected by bias. “A recent example is the conflict between some vaccinated and unvaccinated groups during the coronavirus pandemic. To prevent excessive differences between groups and the corresponding problems, we must pay constant attention to our unconscious biases and discover how they can possibly be changed. In this way we can hopefully contribute to a more pleasant work environment for everyone.” More information about the research Photo: Copernico via Unsplash