Amy Haddad, our Director Inclusion, Justice and Transformation Practice was the keynote for the Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program-Philippines (AAAEP-P) Moving Forward to Break the Bias event in March.
Unconscious or implicit bias is a part of life – our brains would struggle to operate without it! But bias has negative impacts when it reinforces stereotypes and exclusion. And while bias might be a function of our evolution, bias is also a function of inequitable systems and structures. This means we need both individual and structural responses if we want to drive equity, diversity and inclusion.
In the session, Amy explores what we mean by bias, where and how bias can show up, and what we can do to counter bias. Her presentation also looks at why unconscious bias training alone is rarely enough to make a difference and why we need to move beyond awareness raising to behavior and systems change. She addresses how intersectional bias shows up and how different biases operate in different contexts as well as considering how addressing bias fits into broader efforts for equity, diversity and inclusion.
