#4 : Unconscious Bias

This past week I got to listen to a learning call about unconscious bias. The call discussed many of the biases that we as human have. I had many moments where I thought “I do this all the time”, which I guess is why they named it unconscious bias, and why they had a learning call to make it conscious. Whether it is preferring to work with people like me even though I don't consciously think that will bring the greatest productivity or success, or a first impression that sticks for years. I became increasingly curious in the other biases I have daily, and how they affect my growth. The call was geared more towards the work place but my mind kept drifting to personal life and one particularly funny memory I have documented below.

Memory - On the first day of middle school dance camp I had a dance that all day kept calling me by the wrong name. Allison, Alexa, Alexis and so on. My middle school self-had a strong disliking toward this instructor and instead of letting forgiveness settle in, I had a slight disdain for this instructor all throughout my dancing career. She finally would remember my name and we became friendly over a common injury, but there was always a part of me that remembered in middle school when she could not remember my name.

This learning call was one experience this summer that has uncovered old habits inhibiting my growth. I very much value personal growth and have been so thankful that times like this happen to show me areas of improvement and remind me that there is never a reason to be stagnant. I saw that I am most comfortable when the people around me have similar values. I have been around people very different from me this summer in a corporate world environment. There is value placed on money and prestige more than growth and knowledge a lot of time and the extravagance can sometimes overwhelm me.

Going into a large organization this summer, knowing that people are different than me still didn’t take away the unconscious comfortability that has come. While I sometime retreat from people who boast about tangibles, I have learned that sometimes it is just people’s fallback to talk about in corporate settings and that further conversation leads to deeper topics.

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