Implicit bias can lead to structural inequities in education, medicine, employment, and the justice system. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently convened a multi-disciplinary group of experts to develop strategies for disrupting this process. I-LABS has been working on these issues, so I-LABS co-Director Andrew Meltzoff was well positioned to speak to the National Academies audience about these topics. He explained that biases can be unintentionally transmitted across generations when young children observe the actions and attitudes of adults in their environment. These biases are “caught, not taught,” says Meltzoff. “Children are social pattern detectors,” so addressing implicit bias will entail changing the behaviors of the adults who work with children. Insights like this are helping policymakers address implicit bias in more effective ways and helping to bring children into the conversation when we talk about where biases come from and what can be done.
Read the summary article from the National Academies, Disrupting the Impacts of Implicit Bias.
Read the workshop proceedings brief, The Science of Implicit Bias: Implication for Law and Policy.
Read I-LABS’ Equity Briefs.
Watch I-LABS’ learning module Race Today: What Kids Know as They Grow.
Watch I-LABS’ learning module Racing Towards Equality: Why Talking to Your Kids About Race is Good for Everyone.
