Experimental Evaluation of Implicit Bias Education in the College Classroom

Abstract

Background: One common method of teaching students about diversity, equity, and inclusion is educating them about implicit bias—stereotypes and prejudices that are relatively automatic or unconscious. Research reveals positive impacts of implicit bias education but is limited to organizations and social psychology classrooms. Objective: The purpose of this study was to: (1) create a brief online education about implicit bias that could be adapted broadly in college classrooms and (2) test whether the education intervention improved learning, motivational, and behavioral intention outcomes. Method: We randomly assigned professors of a first-year seminar to instruct their students ( N = 498) to complete a survey containing our dependent measures before or after receiving a bias education intervention, which included completing an Implicit Association Test. Results: The bias education intervention increased objective and subjective knowledge of bias and multicultural competence, awareness of one's own bias, and behavioral intentions to reduce bias. Conclusion: These results suggest that a brief online bias education may be one effective tool in helping to create an inclusive campus environment. Teaching Implications: The publicly available bias education intervention provided here can be used broadly as one component of education around diversity, equity, and inclusion on college campuses.