On Tuesday, April 24, attendees at the 2018 Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety in Orlando, Florida, gained insight into the belief systems and learned stereotypes that influence their actions and decisions when interacting with other people, at two sessions devoted to identifying 鈥� and challenging 鈥� unconscious (or implicit) bias in the workplace.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 fit the box I want to put you in, so I don鈥檛 know how to think about you.鈥�
The opening workshop 鈥� led by Cynthia Murphy-Ortega (Chevron) and Sindia Rivera-Jim茅nez (University of Florida) 鈥� reviewed basic concepts related to these biases, examined strategies for identify one鈥檚 own biases, and raised awareness of how unconscious biases manifest themselves, and how those biases influence interactions with our work colleagues, as well as the way we interact with people in the world around us.
Murphy-Ortega introduced the workshop speaking about unconscious bias awareness as a tool for improving diversity and inclusion in work settings, noting that diversity and inclusion is not simply about having everybody in the room, but rather about engaging everybody in the room.
Rivera-Jim茅nez introduced concepts related to the bias habit, along with strategies to 鈥渄etect, reflect on, and reject鈥� those attitudes and prejudices.
Following the workshop, an invited panel joined session attendees in sharing their stories of unconscious bias in the workplace and in their everyday lives. Panelists included Bill Byers (CH2M Hill and AIChE鈥檚 2004 President), Kevin J. Edwards, (Bechtel Infrastructure), LaRuth McAfee (University of Wisconsin, Madison), and Cynthia Murphy-Ortega. The panel was moderated by Sindia Rivera-Jim茅nez.
The Understanding Unconscious Bias in the Workplace sessions were organized with assistance from AIChE鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Initiatives Committee, Minority Affairs Committee, Young Professional Committee, and the Management Division.