Bias Busters is an organization run by graduate students, faculty, and staff to address implicit bias issues in our community. Our goal is to make our campus welcoming and inclusive to all, helping us to continue to be one of the best universities in the nation.
Implicit biases are biases we are unaware of and that happen outside our control. They are triggered by our brain making quick assessments of the situations around us and are influenced by our background, cultural environment, and personal experiences. Everyone has unconscious biases – that’s how our brains work! But while fast thinking can make our brains more efficient, it can also be detrimental in a diverse working environment if we make snap judgments about our colleagues.
We have talked to people from across the department about their experiences. The BiasBusters workshops are designed around your feedback, discussing implicit bias, stereotype threat, and how bystander intervention can help interrupt bias and make our community a better place for everyone to learn and work.
As future technology and innovation leaders, all department members should strive to make our working environment the most inclusive and effective possible. BiasBusters wants to provide the tools to help us all build a more inclusive future together!
BiasBusters is based on BiasBusters @ CMU and Google’s Bias Busting @ Work programs.