bringing awareness to unconscious bias cultural diversity ... ·...

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Bringing Awareness to Unconscious Bias

in the Culturally Diverse Workplace First Steps Towards Cultural Competency

Paulie McDermid, Ph.D. Principal, Inter:Face Cross-Cultural Communication Training

inter:face convening conversa-ons across cultures

Cultural Diversity and Competency 01

Components of Culture

Culture

Values

Beliefs

Attitudes

Behaviours

Commonly

Understood

Learned

Tradi-ons and

C

L

T

U

U

R

E

Unconscious

Rules of

Engagement

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Diversity

“… the demographic characteris-cs of popula-ons a@ributable to percep-ble ethnic, linguis-c, cultural, visible or social varia-on among groups of individuals in the general popula-on.”

Source: College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario, Standards of Practice (effective January 1, 2012)

Cultural Competence

  knowledge of values, beliefs, behaviours, assump-ons of other cultural groups

  the skill with which they communicate with diverse folks

  the sensi-ve and enquiring aHtude with which they approach diverse others

  the behaviours or ways in which they interact with people from other cultures

  personal a@ributes, such as openness and empathy around difference

A professional individual demonstrates cultural competence through:

Presentation Take-Aways

self-‐awareness is key to understanding how our biases work

an openness to learn about other cultures is the star-ng point

what helps are efforts to interact and communicate be@er with those who are different from us

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Unconscious Bias 02

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Two cognitive processes of reaction

Bias is one of our most basic cogni-ve processes that allows us to make sense of the world around us

Amygdala: reac-ve, detec-ng danger, like an alarm bell

Prefrontal cortex: where we reflect before reac-ng

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A study of racial bias

  three-‐month old babies: clear preference for faces from own racial group

  newborn babies did not show preferences

  we are not born biased: what we learn, we can resist; we can unlearn

Source: Kelly, D. J., Quinn, P. C., Slater, A. M., Lee, K., Gibson, A., Smith, M., … Pascalis, O. (2005). Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces. Developmental Science, 8(6), F31–F36

Review of bias

 To be biased is to be human

 We are not born biased, we learn to be biased

 Capacity to step back, reflect, and change our response

 Capacity to empathize with the thoughts, feelings and

experiences of others

Cycle of bias

thinking “they are…”

How it works

1.

thinking “they are like…” 2.

thinking “we will (or won’t)…” 3.

ac=ng on our prejudice 4.

DISCRIMIN-ATION BIAS

STEREO-TYPING PREJUDICE

5. they respond, confirming our bias

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Pay a@en-on

Acknowledge

Understand

A

U

S

P

E

Search for

Execute your plan

Cause for PAUSE

Communication 03

Unhelpful assumptions

Do not assume your knowledge of another’s culture is correct. Your knowledge may not be accurate/applicable for that individual.

Do not assume that English spoken with a foreign accent means there are significant cultural differences, or that

the speaker is not intelligent or knowledgeable.

Do not assume that specific physical features indicate predictable differences in culture and language.

The intention behind the expression

“When sending messages to culturally different people, con-nuously monitor the impact you have on them.

When you have no-ced that your counterpart’s reac-on is not in line with your expecta-ons, stop and clarify.”

Source: Laroche, L. & Yang, C. (2014). Danger and opportunity: bridging cultural diversity for competitive advantage. New York & London: Routledge. 54.

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Learn (and Listen)

Inquire

Assess

I

A

S

L

E

Show

Empathy

Communicating across cultural difference Dump these assumptions!

Everyone who looks or sounds the same IS the same

Everyone who looks or sounds like us IS like us

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Unlearning bias: a new study

  par-cipants unlearn their biases while they sleep!

  exposed to posi-ve sounds, contradic-ng their gender and racial biases

  study aims to reduce unconscious bias without the need for conscious

strategies

Source: Hu, X., Antony, J.W., Creery, J.D., Vargas, I.M., ... Paller, K.A. (2015). Unlearning implicit social biases during sleep. Science, 348(6238), 1013-1015

interfacetoronto.com ● [email protected] ● 647.720.7285

Bringing Awareness to Unconscious Bias in the Culturally Diverse Workplace: First Steps Towards Cultural Competency

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

1. ON BIAS AND PREJUDICE Bazile-Jones, R. (2014, December 1). Understanding Hidden Bias [Webinar]. In CCDI Webinars. Retrieved from http://www.cidi-icdi.ca/event/webinar-bias-20141201/ Cusack, E. (2012). National Colloquium on Racism, Cultural Safety and Aboriginal Peoples’ Health: Report [PDF]. Retrieved May 2015 from http://ahrnets.ca/files/2013/02/AHRNetS-Racism-Cultural-Saftey-Colloquium-Report_Final1.pdf Useful overview of racism as a social determinant of health. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/research/ Harvard’s long-running project allows you to test your own unconscious biases regarding gender,

ethno-racial identity, age, etc. A useful tool to begin your self-awareness practice Hu, X., Antony, J.W., Creery, J.D., Vargas, I.M., ... Paller, K.A. (2015). Unlearning implicit social biases during sleep. Science, 348(6238), 1013-1015. Retrieved May 2015 from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6238/1013.full.pdf Kelly, D. J., Quinn, P. C., Slater, A. M., Lee, K., Gibson, A., Smith, M., … Pascalis, O. (2005). Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces. Developmental Science, 8(6), F31–F36. Retrieved May 2015 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2566511/ Kristof, N. (2015, May 7). Our Biased Brains. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/opinion/nicholas-kristof-our-biased-brains.html?emc=eta1&_r=0 Ross, H. J. (2014). Everyday bias: identifying and navigating unconscious judgments in our daily lives. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Ross also includes discussion of just how damaging bias can be, and what advantages and privileges

people from dominant cultural groups acquire by acting on their bias. Silverstein, J. (2013, March 12). How racism is bad for our bodies. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/how-racism-is-bad-for-our-bodies/273911


Thiederman, S. (2003). Making Diversity Work: 7 Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace. Chicago: Dearborn. Like Ross’ work, this is an accessible and readable book with lots of straightforward examples and

explanations. You’ll find out more about how we learn our biases, how to build self awareness, and what more we can do to challenge our biased reactions to people who are not like us.

2. CULTURAL COMPETENCY AND CULTURAL LITERACY Charbonneau, C. J., Neufeld, M. J., Craig, B. J., & Donnelly, L. R. (2009). Increasing cultural competence in the dental hygiene profession. Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene, 43.6, 297–305. http://www.cdha.ca/pdfs/Profession/Journal/v43n6.pdf College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta. (2012, January). Why is Cultural Competence Important? In InTouch [PDF]. Retrieved April 2015 from http://www.crdha.ca/media/17101/intouch_january_2012.pdf College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario. (2011). Standards of Practice [PDF]. Retrieved May 2015 from http://www.cdho.org/Standards+of+Practice.asp Davis-Murdoch, S., Adongo, L., Brown, D. & Rhymes, J. (2005). A Cultural Competence Guide for Primary Health Care Professionals in Nova Scotia. Retrieved from http://healthteamnovascotia.ca/cultural_competence/Cultural_Competence_guide_for_Primary_Health_Care_Professionals.pdf The first two sections of this guide offer simple, well-laid out overviews of cultural competence and

the key ideas. Specifically aimed at front-line primary healthcare providers, it includes a sample list of culturally sensitive client encounter questions and an explanation for them. Also very useful are the Eight Steps to Cultural Competence as a checklist. Some demographic detail is specific to the province, but all of the key ideas are widely applicable.

Darby, D. L., & Knevel, R. J. M. (2015). Cultural Competence. In Darby, D. L., & Walsh, M. M. (Eds.), Dental hygiene: Theory and practice. (4th ed., pp. 67-79). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. This chapter in the Darby & Walsh textbook has a chart outlining major beliefs, practices, issues and

remedies for various ethnicities and cultures, although it is focused on groups in the U.S. Fitch P. (2004). Cultural competence and dental hygiene care delivery: Integrating cultural care into the dental hygiene process of care. Journal of Dental Hygiene 78(1): 11–21. Includes some good examples of non-verbal aspects of cross-cultural interactions. Gregg J. & Saha S. (2006). Losing Culture on the Way to Competence: The Use and Misuse of Culture in Medical Education. Academic Medicine, 81(6): 542-547. Provides a really important critique of cultural competency approaches in the healthcare sector.

Highlighting, for example, that learning about culture and becoming culturally competent is not enough to address the root causes of health disparities


http://www.ethnomed.org Information about cultural beliefs in medical care including cultural profiles. http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html Foundation dedicated to the ideas of Professor Geert Hofstede, self-described as the founder of

comparative cross-cultural research. Contain national cultural profiles, and descriptions of his seminal idea that culture can be better understood organized into “dimensions”.

Kongnetiman L., & Eskow, E. (2005). Enhancing Cultural Competency: A Resource Kit for Health Care Professionals. Retrieved May 2015 from http://fcrc.albertahealthservices.ca/pdfs/Enhancing_Cultural_Competency_Resource_Kit.pdf This resource pack offers a collection of “cultural profiles” about different ethno-racial cultural

groups including information about attitudes towards healthcare and healthcare professionals, traditional medicines and beliefs, food and diet, as well as observations about verbal and non-verbal styles of communication.

Mor-Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. (2007). Embracing Cultural Diversity in Health Care: Developing Cultural Competence. Toronto: Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Retrieved April 2015 from http://rnao.ca/bpg/guidelines/embracing-cultural-diversity-health-care-developing-cultural-competence Provides an outline and definitions of best cultural competency practices as well as a

checklist of recommended self-awareness and communication capacities for the individual healthcare provider.

Srivastava, R. H. (Ed.) (2007). The healthcare professional's guide to clinical cultural competence. Toronto: Elsevier Canada. This textbook offers many clear, solid definitions of key concepts such as culture, diversity,

stereotypes, and ethnicity. It also describes the strengths and weaknesses of different cultural competency approaches, tracing their history. As well, the opening chapter includes a summary of essential best practices for the culturally competent healthcare provider.

Statistics Canada. (n.d.). 2011 Census and 2011 National Household Survey. Retrieved from http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm


3. CULTURAL COMPETENCY AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION Chambers, B. (2008). CESLM Intercultural Handbook. Cooperative ESL Ministries. Retrieved from http://www.atesl.ca/node/239#.VWctA2bgmOo A very clear, well-laid out, and simple guide to what social anthropologists call the “dimensions of

culture”, as well as lots more about cross-cultural communication, written as a guide for teachers of English as a Second Language by Beverley Chambers for Alberta Employment and Immigration.

Clear communication: Cultural competency. (2015). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved April 2015 from http://www.nih.gov/clearcommunication/culturalcompetency.htm Hofstede, G. J., Pedersen, P. & Hofstede, G. (2002). Exploring Culture: Exercises, Stories, and Synthetic Cultures. Boston, MA: Intercultural Press. Chapter 1 suggests strategies for becoming self-aware and for better communication in cross-cultural

situations. http://www.diversityrx.org Information for healthcare professionals on communication and cultural competence to further

better healthcare outcomes for culturally diverse populations. http://www.hireimmigrants.ca/manage-diversity/diversity-equity-accommodation/ Videos on cross-cultural interactions in the workplace, plus many informative articles Kohls, Robert L and Knight, John M. (1994). Developing Intercultural Awareness: A Cross- Cultural Training Handbook. Boston, MA: Intercultural Press. Laroche, L. & Rutherford, D. (2007). Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting Culturally Different Employees. Burlington, MA: Elsevier. Laroche, L. & Yang, C. (2014). Danger and opportunity: bridging cultural diversity for competitive advantage. New York & London: Routledge. Chapter 2 focuses on cross-cultural communication, and other sections of the book show how to use

observations about cultural behaviour in workplace scenarios.

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