Nearly 60% of CEOs in Fortune 500s are six feet tall. However, less than 15% of Americans are six feet tall. Does that mean that tall people are smarter and make better leaders? No, of course not. It's a reflection on how we view power and authority, and it's a prime example of unconscious bias. In this course, we'll define what unconscious bias is, and discuss how it permeates society, workplaces, and even our own thoughts. We'll go over where these biases come from and how we can recognize them within our own perceptions. We'll go through some examples of how unconscious bias shows up at work. And lastly, we'll discuss micro affirmations, micro-aggressions, conscious and unconscious discrimination, and the legal consequences associated with these issues.

The more we learn about unconscious bias, the more types of biases we discover. Some sources have categorized over 150 types of biases! But in this program, we're only going to cover a few, to get you thinking about how often we rely on unconscious bias, particularly at work. Some types that we'll discuss include confirmation, affinity, perception, conformity, and attribution biases. We'll also go over the halo and horns effects, as well as availability heuristic, functional fixedness, and the contrast effect.

Unconscious bias is a result of our brain's natural processes. In fact, it's what allows us to make quick decisions, even with limited information. However, in a successful and ethical work environment, we still have to limit the decisions that we make unconsciously. The reality is that it's difficult to overcome biases, because it intuitively feels correct when you reach a conclusion based on them. It's hard to recognize when to fix something that doesn't feel wrong. In this program, we'll talk about how to address this situation. We'll go over ways to become more aware of your bias blind spots. Then, we'll discuss how to overcome those unconscious biases, turning them into conscious, intentional thoughts and decisions.