“Change is most quickly accomplished when we critically evaluate our existing systems and upend those that result in disparate outcomes. Start by taking some time to consider whether you harbor any implicit biases. You might consider taking an implicit bias test, such as the ones offered by Harvard University’s Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu). The process can be extremely uncomfortable and the natural reaction to the results is often denial and anger. Unwittingly, however, all of us harbor implicit biases, and understanding those biases personally is an important first step in assessing why we react to different people in different ways.Next, look carefully at your hiring, evaluation, assignment and promotion practices. Are these processes open, transparent, uniformly applied and inclusive, involving a group of diverse decision makers? Have the outcomes historically favored some groups over others? Is the same process applied to all candidates, or do some receive certain advantages?Consider your mentorship systems. Are mentors and mentees allowed to self-select, or are mentors assigned, and evaluated on the quality of their supervision and mentorship as comprehensively as the mentee? Are favorable and prominent work assignments limited to a few ‘go-to’ attorneys, or could they be more equally shared to give others a chance to shine?”

November 25, 2015

Source: “Editorial: Implicit Racial Bias Stands in Way of Truly Diverse Bar.” Connecticut Law Tribune. November 23, 2015.

Written by MarcusLutherX Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with affirmative action, black lives matter, Civil Rights Act of 1964, diversity, elite law firms, employment discrimination, implicit racial bias, inexorable zero, inference of racial discrimination, job opportunities, jobs, law, law firms, Loeb & Loeb LLP, myth of black inferiority, myth of meritocracy, quotas, race, racial discriminaton, racial diversity, racism, subjective decisionmaking tainted with racial bias, systemic disparate treatment, unconscious racism