Unconscious Bias or Unconscionable B*llsh*t ?
Given that Unconscious Bias training is now mandatory for all Fellows and all Council Members, isn't it time to have a look at this expensive charade ? I first encountered it when I read a former President's piece about her 'eye-opening' experience Real builders read the Times ... right ? Here's the gist. A builder is having lunch. Asked to visualise the scene most people think of a the builder as a white guy, overweight, eating a meat pie and reading the Sun, so far so realistic. Wrong, this is your Unconscious Bias kicking in, why couldn’t the builder be a black woman who drinks peppermint tea, eats falafel and reads the Financial Times? ' (I'm not making this up, click on the link). You see how horribly biased you are - and it's unconscious too - bad vet, bad vet, bad, bad, bad, report for political re-education immediately ! In almost fifty years of adult life I've probably had hundreds of encounters with builders of every trade and...