Unconscious Bias 1

The Impact of Unconscious Bias in Education

Melissa Klein

Post University

Dr. Virginia Metaxas

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Introduction

The term “unconscious bias” refers to associations that a person holds outside of their

conscious awareness that can significantly influence their attitudes and behaviors (Herbert,

2013). All people have some sort of bias association and response (whether positive or negative)

to ethnically, culturally, or racially different people then themselves. As it pertains to the Post

University class, EDU 604: Diversity Issues in the 21st Century, unconscious bias relates to the

objective of evaluating the nature of race relations and prejudice. This paper will discuss the

repercussions of unconscious bias pertaining to students academically and the effectiveness of

educators and educational institutions.

Repercussions of Unconscious Bias

Student Academics

Unconscious bias promotes inequality and discrimination in the classroom. A study

performed by Sherif (1966) of boys at summer camp demonstrated the link between bias and

discrimination. In the study, Sherif created two groups and made them compete. He found that

hostility, bias, and negative stereotypes arose when a group’s only way of gaining was for the

other group to lose. In contrast, Sherif also demonstrated that relations improved when set goals

involved both groups in which neither could succeed without the other’s help. In summary, the

study found that bias can fuel discriminatory actions (Herbert, 2013).

Discrimination is one of the many contributors to the academic achievement gap in the

United States. The term “achievement gap” is used to describe differences in learning among

specified groups of students (Reynolds, 2002). More specifically, it refers to the gap in

achievement between socioeconomically privileged white and Asian students and those students

of diverse color or those who are socioeconomically at a disadvantage (Murphy, 2010). African
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American children in particular receive a disproportionate share of disciplinary attention in

schools and are subjected to harsher discipline (Reynolds, 2002). They are also three times as

likely as Caucasian schoolchildren to be suspended or expelled from school for the same

infractions (Scialabba, 2017). Also, researchers have found that discriminatory disciplinary

action by educational faculty can damage the educational practices of black students and

negatively impact the student’s academic achievement (Murphy, 2010) (Barton, 2003).

Educators and Educational Institutions

Teachers set the tone for the classroom environment and set an example of acceptable

behavior within an educational context (Goobler, 2017). For this reason, there can be drastic

negative repercussions when an educator has unconscious bias that they unknowingly act upon.

For example: an educator may make associations towards a marginalized group who struggles

academically. When encountered with a student from that group type, the professor may

immediately uphold the stereotype before getting to know the student (Goobler, 2017).

Additionally, a recent sociological study by Katherine Milkman in 2014 investigated the

patterns of access to higher education institution faculty mentors based on race and gender. In the

study, emails were sent to a diverse group of professors who taught 89 different topics at 259

higher education institutions in the United States. The emails were all identical but signed

differently to reflect stereotypical Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, Indian, and Chinese

names such as: “Brad Anderson, Meredith Roberts, Lamar Washington, Latoya Brown, Juanita

Martinez, Deepak Patel, Sonali Desai, Chang Wong, and Mei Chen” (Lin-Sommer & Łucek,

2015, para. 2). The results were appalling and the conclusion drawn from the study was that

unconscious bias is still an issue for students seeking higher education academic mentors.
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David Goobler (2017) discussed in his educational article, Yes You Have Implicit Biases,

Too, the importance of educators recognizing that they may have biases that they are unaware of

in order to combat the problems accompanied by them. Cultural awareness is the key to

preventing bias towards students (Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, & Greenfield, 2000). Goobler

(2017) described the importance and responsibility educators have in recognizing their implicit

bias:

“If we are serious about our responsibility to create a classroom environment in which

every student has an equal opportunity to excel, we need to take a hard look at our own

behavior. We have to take whatever steps are necessary to combat anything that might

handicap our ability to be fair, including any implicit bias (para. 7).”

Conclusion

Unconscious bias is a harmful aspect to the education system in the United States. If left

undealt with, it can negatively impact student’s academic achievement, and educators and

educational institution’s academic effectiveness.

Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, and Greenfield (2000) detailed in the article, Bridging

Cultures in Our Schools: New Approaches That Work, the importance of bridging cultural

differences together for learning to take place. In order to bridge cultural difference for student's

academic success, educators must be aware of their unconscious bias and see culturally diverse

students as assets in their classroom (N.A., 2012).

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References

Barton, P. E. (2003). Parsing the achievement gap. (Policy Information Report). Princeton, NJ:

Educational Testing Service.,

Gooblar, D. (2017). Yes, You Have Implicit Biases, Too. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Yes-You-Have-Implicit-

Biases/241797

Herbert, C. (2013). Unconscious Bias in Higher Education. Equality Challenge Unit. Retrieved

from https://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/unconscious-bias-and-higher-

education.pdf

Lin-Sommer S. & Łucek S. (2015). The Dangerous Mind: Unconscious Bias in Higher

Education. Brown Political Review. Retrieved from

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higher-education/

Murphy, J. (2010). The Educator's Handbook for Understanding and Closing Achievement

Gaps. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.

N.A. (2012). English Language Learners: Culture, Equity, and Language. NEA Priority

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Reynolds, G. M. (2002). Identifying and eliminating the achievement gaps and in-school and

out-of-school factors that contribute to the gaps. Naperville, IL: North Central Regional

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Scialabba, N. (2017). How Implicit Bias Impacts Our Children in Education. American Bar

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https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-

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Sherif, M. (1966). In common predicament: social psychology of intergroup conflict and

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Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., & Greenfield, P.M. (2000). Bridging Cultures in Our Schools:

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