Bias Interrupted Book – Bias Interrupters

Bias Interrupted: Creating Inclusion for Real and for Good

Bias Interrupted offers a fresh approach to inclusion that is concrete, evidenced-based and actionable. Whether you are an individual seeking to be a better ally, the head of HR, or the CEO, this book provides concrete steps you can take starting tomorrow to ensure that you and those around you can all do your best work together. Written as the answers to questions you may have been afraid to ask, the book proposes that businesses treat inclusion the way they’d treat any business problem: with evidence, metrics and persistence.

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Printable versions of the toolkits mentioned throughout the book are located here.

Master Bibliography

The Master Bias Interrupters Bibliography includes decades of studies from experimental social psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, sociology, and behavioral economics.

Tools for Hiring

Begin by reading the Bias Interrupters for Hiring and Recruitment Toolkit.

Additional tools include:

• Identifying and Interrupting Bias in Hiring Guide: Empower anyone involved in the hiring process to spot bias by distributing this handout prior to resume review and interviews.

• Sample Memo to Distribute to Candidates Prior to the Interview: Some people feel more comfortable with self-promotion than others. Partly it depends on how you were raised: Asian Americans, first-generation professionals, and women are often raised with a modesty mandate. To counter this, your company should send candidates a document explaining what qualities the company seeks— before they show up for the interview. This document should list self- conﬁdence if it is highly valued. The memo should say explicitly that undue modesty will not be helpful and that the candidates’ assignment is to make the best case possible for themselves.

Tools for Performance Evaluations

Begin by reading the Bias Interrupters for Performance Evaluation Toolkit and the Performance Evaluation Check-List.

Additional tools include:

• Identifying Bias in Performance Evaluations Guide : Empower your employees to spot bias by distributing this handout to read prior to writing their reviews.

• Writing an Effective Self-Evaluation Guide : The modesty mandate can affect evaluations that include a self- appraisal. To counter this, give employees explicit guidance on what the company would like to see in a self- evaluation. Clear instructions will encourage people from elite backgrounds to explain what justifies their confidence and will help ensure that first-gen professionals are not hobbled by modesty. It will also help other groups affected by the modesty mandate, like women and Asian American men.

Tools for Assignments

Begin by reading the Bias Interrupters for Assignments Toolkit, which provides step-by-step guidance for how to identify the career-enhancing opportunities in your organization and how to implement Bias Interrupters to equalize access to it.

Additional tools include:

• Identifying Bias in Assignments Guide

• Assignment Typology Guide
• Office Housework Survey
• Responses to Common Pushback

Tools for Meetings

Begin by reading the Bias Interrupters for Meetings Toolkit.

Additional tools include:

• Identifying Bias in Meetings Guide
• Bias in Meetings Survey

White Paper: Keeping Diversity Metrics While Controlling for Legal Risk

Read the White Paper on Keeping Diversity Metrics While Controlling for Legal Risk and accompanying article in the Harvard Business Review Magazine here.

Explore our full library of tools for individuals, managers, and organizations.

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“How do you move DEI from acronym to action? Joan Williams shines the light on the realities of the modern workplace and how small but important steps can usher in real change.”

KATIE COURIC

Award-winning former ABC News journalist; former co-host, NBC’s Today show; former anchor, CBS Evening News ; New York Times best-selling author, The Best Advice I Ever Got ; and founder, Katie Couric Media

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