Suggested Inclusiveness Training For Hiring Committees, Spring 2009
Las Positas College
I.Unconscious BiasParticipating in the hiring process for staff, faculty, and administrators is one of the most important ways wecan serve our students and the larger college community. It is a responsibility and an obligation and we take itvery seriously. Las Positas College is committed to processes that encourage and promote diversity, equity,and inclusion – all essential to a healthy, vibrant, and dynamic institution.These processes should assure perspective employees that their appropriately completed applications areappreciated and valued and that they are given full, fair, and impartial consideration by the hiring committees.In order to guarantee that fairness and impartiality are maintained throughout all phases of the process, thereare a number of things committees should be cognizant of and monitor for as they work - individually andtogether as a committee. First and foremost, committee members must recognize the potential for theunconscious bias that often influences them as they proceed. All of us have natural, built-in biases. We are biased about the things that make us feel comfortable. Biases are not necessarily bad unless they prevent usfrom being open to “new and different” perspectives or prevent us from discarding the stereotypes and prejudices we have held about others – notions and apprehensions that have no basis in reality. These biasesare most often unconscious and they have the power to negatively affect relationships – long and short term,formal and informal. Recognizing and understanding these biases are essential to building the kind of collegecommunity we seek and to hiring employees who can contribute to it.Many feel most comfortable interacting with people who are just like themselves. They look for and favor applicants who will be a “good fit”, that is, those that help to create a seamless homogeneity. For instance, onan application: a person’s name, where a person lives, the schools a person attended, the places a person hasworked or taught previously – one or all of these might cause someone to wonder if this person would be a“good fit”. Likewise, during an interview, committees might be uncomfortable with the way candidates dress,or speak, or how much time it takes them to answer a question, or how they regard the committee, or howformal or informal candidates may appear or, even, their physical appearance. Few would say that thesethings caused them concern, but they are concerns for them, nonetheless.All of us must be willing to be honest in reviewing applications and in interviewing candidates. We need toaddress unconscious biases directly and with conviction. We must be able to verbalize the concerns we have,not ignore them or pretend that our concerns don’t exist. By addressing the concerns “head on”, everyone benefits; everyone learns and grows from these experiences and our students and our institution benefit mostof all.
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