Melissa Klein
Post University
Introduction
The term “unconscious bias” refers to associations that a person holds outside of their
conscious awareness that can significantly influence their attitudes and behaviors (Herbert,
2013). All people have some sort of bias association and response (whether positive or negative)
to ethnically, culturally, or racially different people then themselves. As it pertains to the Post
University class, EDU 604: Diversity Issues in the 21st Century, unconscious bias relates to the
objective of evaluating the nature of race relations and prejudice. This paper will discuss the
Student Academics
performed by Sherif (1966) of boys at summer camp demonstrated the link between bias and
discrimination. In the study, Sherif created two groups and made them compete. He found that
hostility, bias, and negative stereotypes arose when a group’s only way of gaining was for the
other group to lose. In contrast, Sherif also demonstrated that relations improved when set goals
involved both groups in which neither could succeed without the other’s help. In summary, the
study found that bias can fuel discriminatory actions (Herbert, 2013).
Discrimination is one of the many contributors to the academic achievement gap in the
United States. The term “achievement gap” is used to describe differences in learning among
specified groups of students (Reynolds, 2002). More specifically, it refers to the gap in
achievement between socioeconomically privileged white and Asian students and those students
of diverse color or those who are socioeconomically at a disadvantage (Murphy, 2010). African
Unconscious Bias 3
schools and are subjected to harsher discipline (Reynolds, 2002). They are also three times as
likely as Caucasian schoolchildren to be suspended or expelled from school for the same
infractions (Scialabba, 2017). Also, researchers have found that discriminatory disciplinary
action by educational faculty can damage the educational practices of black students and
negatively impact the student’s academic achievement (Murphy, 2010) (Barton, 2003).
Teachers set the tone for the classroom environment and set an example of acceptable
behavior within an educational context (Goobler, 2017). For this reason, there can be drastic
negative repercussions when an educator has unconscious bias that they unknowingly act upon.
For example: an educator may make associations towards a marginalized group who struggles
academically. When encountered with a student from that group type, the professor may
immediately uphold the stereotype before getting to know the student (Goobler, 2017).
patterns of access to higher education institution faculty mentors based on race and gender. In the
study, emails were sent to a diverse group of professors who taught 89 different topics at 259
higher education institutions in the United States. The emails were all identical but signed
differently to reflect stereotypical Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, Indian, and Chinese
names such as: “Brad Anderson, Meredith Roberts, Lamar Washington, Latoya Brown, Juanita
Martinez, Deepak Patel, Sonali Desai, Chang Wong, and Mei Chen” (Lin-Sommer & Łucek,
2015, para. 2). The results were appalling and the conclusion drawn from the study was that
unconscious bias is still an issue for students seeking higher education academic mentors.
Unconscious Bias 4
David Goobler (2017) discussed in his educational article, Yes You Have Implicit Biases,
Too, the importance of educators recognizing that they may have biases that they are unaware of
in order to combat the problems accompanied by them. Cultural awareness is the key to
preventing bias towards students (Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, & Greenfield, 2000). Goobler
(2017) described the importance and responsibility educators have in recognizing their implicit
bias:
“If we are serious about our responsibility to create a classroom environment in which
every student has an equal opportunity to excel, we need to take a hard look at our own
behavior. We have to take whatever steps are necessary to combat anything that might
handicap our ability to be fair, including any implicit bias (para. 7).”
Conclusion
Unconscious bias is a harmful aspect to the education system in the United States. If left
undealt with, it can negatively impact student’s academic achievement, and educators and
Cultures in Our Schools: New Approaches That Work, the importance of bridging cultural
differences together for learning to take place. In order to bridge cultural difference for student's
academic success, educators must be aware of their unconscious bias and see culturally diverse
References
Barton, P. E. (2003). Parsing the achievement gap. (Policy Information Report). Princeton, NJ:
Gooblar, D. (2017). Yes, You Have Implicit Biases, Too. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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Herbert, C. (2013). Unconscious Bias in Higher Education. Equality Challenge Unit. Retrieved
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Lin-Sommer S. & Łucek S. (2015). The Dangerous Mind: Unconscious Bias in Higher
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Scialabba, N. (2017). How Implicit Bias Impacts Our Children in Education. American Bar
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-
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Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., & Greenfield, P.M. (2000). Bridging Cultures in Our Schools: