Apparently, I do not associate “male” with “career” any more (or less) than I associate “female” with “career”. Neither do I have an automatic preference for white people over black people. I do, however, have a slight automatic preference for young people compared to old people, and straight people compared to gay people.

The Implicit Association Test
Project Implicit is a virtual laboratory comprising a network of facilities and scientists at Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Virginia. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures unconscious bias in our behavior. Data from the IAT reveals that most people associate family with females, careers with males, liberal arts with females, and science with males. It seems also that Americans (including ethnic minorities) prefer whites to blacks, young people to old people, and thin people to fat people.

Unconscious Bias and Career Progression
Modern morals and legislation demand that we treat everyone equally in our personal and working lives. Most employers would argue that they never discriminate against people because of their “race, color, religion, sex, and national origin”-the basis of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Indeed, it is likely that when we make conscious, considered decisions we live up to these high ideals. But what about knee-jerk reactions, snap judgments, and our unconscious responses?

Some Job Applicants are More Equal than Others
When we interview a middle-aged, overweight, black woman, does our unconscious mind compare her unfavorably with the young, fit, white man applying for the same job? Do we react differently, perhaps? Keeping a little more distance, failing to maintain eye contact, and making the hand-shake shorter. All these combined could make a job candidate feel ill at ease for no reason that he or she could put his or her finger on. This discomfort is likely to result in a less than spectacular performance and the employer’s decision to hire the more confident, enthusiastic, and prepared applicant. No discrimination there. Really?

Biased from Birth
The ongoing research around unconscious bias seems to provide conclusive evidence that we all judge and discriminate unconsciously in ways we would vehemently deny. After reading the literature my own results surprised me. I grew up in a small Welsh town. There were two black students among one thousand in the high school I attended. None of my friends, relatives, and contemporaries openly discriminated against black people; but there was an unconscious sigh of relief among the older generation when my friend split with the African guy she dated for a number of years. How could this culture have failed to give me some unconscious bias, even if I choose not to live by those standards in my conscious life?

Systemizing Versus Empathizing Bias
Maybe it is because I am first and foremost a systemizer. When I last took the EQ SQ tests I scored 111 (SQ) and 65 (EQ). I approached the Project Implicit demonstration tests as a “system” and attempted (successfully, it seems) to dissociate the two concepts (for example, Gay or Good, and Straight or Bad) when categorizing a third group of words (for example, joyful, happy, nasty, horrible) as either “Gay” or “Good” or “Straight” or “Bad”. It sounds complex, but it isn’t. It made me wonder if empathizers find it harder to overcome unconscious bias than systemizers.

That said, my systemizing tendencies failed me completely on one test. The results show that I have an automatic preference for Martha Stewart compared to Oprah Winfrey. Given that we know I don’t exhibit race preferences, does this mean I prefer convicted felons to philanthropists?

I’m confused.

Sources:
• Project Implicit
• Implicit Association Test, Demonstration and Research, Harvard University

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.