The Virtual College Training Hub

Unconscious bias is when we make judgments or decisions on the basis of our prior experience, our own thought patterns, assumptions or interpretations – and we are not aware that we are doing it.

How a person thinks can depend on their life experiences and sometimes they have beliefs and views about other people that might not be right or reasonable.

Unconscious bias includes when a person thinks:

• better of someone because they believe they’re alike
• less of someone because that person is different to them, for example, they might be of a different race, religion or age

Sometimes it’s also called ‘stereotyping’.

Everyone can think in a way that involves unconscious bias at some point, but it’s important to be aware of it and not let it affect behaviour or decisions.

How training can help

Unconscious bias training will usually offer a non-judgmental approach aimed at understanding how unconscious bias operates, then help a person to develop an awareness of where their unconscious bias might be operating. It can also help people to develop a more positive approach to difference and harness the benefits of diversity.

We don’t currently offer unconscious bias training to our ARC NENC members. If you would like to access training, we recommend that your first point of contact should be your host organisation/employer.

If you are unable to access training via your employer, we do have some limited spaces available on a programme delivered by our partners at Newcastle University. Please email [email protected] if you’d like to be considered for this.