In an era of social distancing and virtual advising and instruction, implicit biases can do even more harm to our students. With this webinar, become more aware of implicit biases and learn practices to reduce them.
This webinar features Dr. Bentley Gibson, associate professor of psychology at Georgia Highlands College and founder of The Bias Adjuster. Megan Guidry, leader fellow from Granbury ISD, also joined us to share her experience exploring implicit bias and how that relates to her counseling practice.
Take your own first step in self-awareness via Implicit Association Tests from Harvard University. This is a great intro exercise to help prepare for the conversation about the hidden biases that can influence your counseling and advising practice.
Continue fine-tuning your practice and learning more about handling biases in the Texas OnCourse Academy. The Postsecondary Research badge includes lessons on tackling biases while helping students identify college and career paths.
More Implicit Biases Resources
Dr. Gibson uses a wealth of published research to understand the impact of implicit bias on our current practice during virtual counseling and advising to achieve positive experiences. Implicit Associations Tests (IAT) facilitate self-awareness on topics such as race, gender, age, and sexuality. Biases that can peak during virtual advising include:
- Socioeconomic bias
- Gender bias
- Hair bias
She also recognizes several things to be cognizant of when mitigating bias in virtual advising:
- Be mindful of the times
- Societal social distancing can increase biases
- Mentally reset before working with each student
- Create a “safe space”
- Get to know your students’ identities
- Increase openness, conscientiousness, and empathy
Download supporting research articles discussed in the webinar here.
To read:
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Blind Spot by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald
Four Tools for Interrupting Implicit Bias by Zaretta Hammond
To Watch:
Address ways you can address biases by watching Verna Myers Ted Talk: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them.
Follow up with Dr. Benley Gibson or learn more by taking her online course about implicit race, gender, and sexuality biases.
