Unconscious (or implicit) bias is a term that describes the associations we hold, outside our conscious awareness and control. Unconscious bias affects everyone. Unconscious bias is triggered by our brain automatically making quick judgments and assessments.

The tendency of us as humans is to act in ways that are prompted by a range of assumptions and biases that we are not aware of. This can include decisions or actions that we are not consciously aware of, as well as hidden influences on decisions and actions that we believe are rational and based on objective unbiased evidence and experience.

An example of this bias during hiring is if the hiring panel favors male candidates over female candidates even though they have similar skills and job experience. Another well-known example is the gender pay gap.

Unconscious bias is triggered by our brain automatically making quick judgments and assessments. They are influenced by our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes and cultural context.

Unconscious bias can be present in organisations and groups as well as influencing the behaviours and decisions made by individuals.

Unconscious or implicit bias refers to the associations that are made between different qualities and social categories such as race, gender or disability and are judgements that are made without conscious awareness.

These automatic preferences or stereotypes are a major contributor to a lack of workplace diversity.

The most important thing you can do is recognise that unconscious bias is likely to be influencing your actions, behaviours and decisions – as individuals and in groups and organisations.

Take time to explore the material provided on this site, reflect on your decision making (conscious and unconscious) and consider the steps you can take to minimise the consequences of unconscious bias in different situations and contexts.

One of the most important things we can do is avoid making rushed or instinctive decisions (e.g. around recruitment or assessing others). Think carefully about what could be used to support objective judgements and decisions and avoid making decisions likely to be influenced by unconscious bias (e.g. recruitment) when tired or stressed.

Cultivating and building a culture of belonging encompasses all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion. To put it quite simply, if employees, staff and students feel that they belong in the workplace and at school, it means you are working within and implementing effective diverse, inclusive and equitable practices. Even better, if people in your organisations can verbalise why and how they belong, you are building a great culture! Equally, DEI work is never complete; the challenge and opportunity is to create a long-term culture of belonging so that every person – past, present and future – that enters your organisation and school (and even your home!) feels they belong.

Good question. Employees are more than their job title. Students are more than their results. Parents and carers are more than responsible adults. To belong means individuals feel seen, heard and appreciated. They feel human and are treated like humans too. Nurturing a culture of belonging can also be seen as the ultimate result of successful wellbeing strategies in the workplace: if people feel happy, respected, purposeful and that they matter – they are likely to experience a strong sense of belonging too.

Another great question! To start with, in the words of Simon Sinek, we should view cultivating workplace cultures as an infinite process: creating a culture of belonging is ever changing and ever growing – just like the nature of work and school. If you consciously regard building a culture of belonging as an ongoing process and a continuous strategy, it is likely to actively feature in all parts of work and workplace culture.

1. DEI Toolkits. It is recommended that you use all other DE&I toolkits on the DiverseEd website to build a culture of belonging. Pragmatically, create a long-term strategy and ‘deep dive’ into different aspects of creating a culture of belonging, depending on the individual needs and feedback from your organisation (for example, you might tackle flex and anti-racism first, after consulting with stakeholders in your organisation).
2. Representation matters. When building teams, recruiting and selecting curriculum material, ensure you are bringing diverse voices to the forefront. This may sound obvious, but it is often an underestimated (yet crucial) part of DEI strategy. If people have representative role models with shared experiences and values, they are more likely to feel they belong in the workplace.
3. Listen. Create spaces and time to listen to your staff and students. Take the conversation beyond task driven activities and get to know them as people. Championing diversity does not just mean championing a protected characteristic; it means valuing the whole person and their ongoing lived experiences. For example, prioritise belonging in your training and development; consider times in the school and working day that could be reconfigured to get to know one another: this could be lunchtimes or dedicated ‘open door policy’ times too.
4. Environment. Create an environment that is inclusive and fun! Go beyond displays and think of school and work as ‘home from home’. How can you make your employees feel comfortable and welcome in their place of work? Ask them.
5. Professional relationships. An often underestimated or overused initiative, but effectively creating workplace coaches or buddies can build positive and trusting relationships in the workplace. Effective training and CPD in coaching and mentoring not only up-skills your staff, but helps nurture positive connection in the workplace too.
6. Empathy, trust and compassion. Three key leadership traits, which will benefit all employees. Firstly, outline in your culture and environment that you’re all on the same team – you trust, champion, respect and support one another. Success, results and personal development are heavily rooted in trust in the workplace. Creating a culture where empathy and compassion are key features in all areas of work and school (from HR policy to safeguarding and curriculum strategy) highlights that your people matter and feel appreciated and respected.

Social class is the division of a society based on the perceived social status and economic status of individuals – it is not simply the wealth an individual earns that determines what social class they are considered to belong to. Generally, we think of class being separated into three categories – upper class, middle class and working class. However, changes to labour practices and the characteristics of social groups in the turn of the century has led to revisions in how class is determined and defined. In 2011, the Great British Class Survey (conducted by the BBC) revealed seven distinct class categories; these class categories were described as ‘elite’, ‘middle class’ (broken down into established and technical middle class), ‘new affluent workers’, ‘traditional working class’, ‘emergent service sector’ and ‘precariat’. The latter four vary in terms of their financial income and the perceived value of their ‘social contacts’, but all would fall under pre-established notions about the ‘working class’- labourers or low income workers. It is this fracturing of social classes into sub-categories that illustrates how unclear it can be who is or isn’t at risk of class inequality or restricted social mobility.

Class inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, and reinforce specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. Class inequality ensures only particular families have access to higher education for their children, access to particular schools or housing, access to high or low quality healthcare and even transportation or financial services. There are ways to resist or reverse the impact of class inequality through organisational support and conscientious behaviour as an individual.