Appendix A: Implicit Bias and Implications for Social Equity: A Reflexive Written Activity

Initially I was introduced to an activity “Implicit Prejudice” by a colleague teaching a course at another university on diversity in the workplace. This activity (in its “original version”) is available through SAGE Edge (Healey & O’Brien, n.d.) for the 7th Edition of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change (Healey & O’Brien, 2014), now in its 9th edition (Healey & Stepnick, 2023). Over the last few years, I have modified this activity and utilized it in conjunction with various courses and topics, including those on social equity, mindfulness, human resources, organization studies, principles of public administration, and administrative leadership and ethics. A modified version is presented below to provide readers with ideas and insights for reflexive pedagogical tools designed to cultivate reflective practice, critical thinking, analysis, social equity, social justice, and mindfulness.

In this course, through readings and examples, course participants will see how implicit bias, social attitudes, values, and prejudice affect diversity and social equity in our individual lives, workplaces and spaces, and public service and civil society more broadly. This activity is a modified version of Joseph F. Healey and Eileen O’Brien’s (n.d.), “Internet Research Projects: Implicit Prejudice.” The assignment was created to supplement their text, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change (7th ed) published in 2014. Healey and O’Brien (n.d.), introduce the assignment as follows:

As adapted, this activity will encourage and foster reflexive, meaningful, and mindful learning that fosters social equity—a foundational pillar of public administration and public service more broadly (see Berry-James et al., 2020; Irizarry, 2022; McCandless & Guy, 2020; Meyer et al., 2022). This activity begins by having students determine and assess if they have implicit biases toward various groups of people by completing various implicit association tests (IATs) from Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/).

This reflexive activity requires students to visit Project Implicit and complete at least five IATs, learn more about implicit attitudes and biases, and in memo format:

• Assess the significance and impact of implicit attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes, and social equity;

• Discuss the IATs completed. Do not report your specific scores. Instead, reflect on whether the results seemed accurate, considering how they align—or fail to align—with own expectations and self-perceptions. What might similarities or differences between your expectations and the results mean?;

• Evaluate the role of implicit attitudes and diverse and socially equitable workplaces and spaces;

• Articulate an argument pertaining to the need to prepare ethical public service leaders;

• Reflect on your responses to the IAT results and analyze how the insights gained can inform your personal growth. Consider concrete steps you might take to align your current self with your ideal self; and

• Share any additional insights you deem interesting, relevant, and/or significant.

In this way, students will be honing their abilities in many domains of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA, 2023) required universal competencies for public service including developing the ability:

• to lead and manage in the public interest;

• to participate in, and contribute to, the policy process;

• to analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems and make evidence-informed decisions in a complex and dynamic environment;

• to articulate, apply, and advance a public service perspective;

• to communicate and interact productively and in culturally responsive ways with a diverse and changing workforce and society at large.

• At least 6 of the 14 required readings from Modules 1 and 2 must be utilized to complete this activity. Each must be properly cited and referenced in APA format. This assignment is due at the end of Module 2.

• This reflection should be submitted in Memo format and should be 2 - 3 single-spaced pages in length (no shorter than two, no longer than four, exclusive of the reference list which does not need to begin on a new page) (Students were provided with several memo examples of similar writing activities, as well as given a Memo Template in APA, already structured with the required (and formatted) headers in APA and additional insights to help them get the most of the assignment).

• The paper should address all the questions outlined below in the appropriate sections outlining the sections of the memo.

1. Visit Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/).

2. Select “Project Implicit Social Attitudes.” Students do not need to register with Project Implicit to complete the IATs. Students may proceed as a guest.

3. Complete the following IATs: Race IAT; Age IAT; Gender- Career IAT; Disability IAT; and at least one (1) more IAT of your choice for a total of five completed IATs.

   • Students are encouraged to save their results. I generally print them on paper and save them as PDF (i.e., “save to PDF” or “Print to PDF”).

   • To further reflexive and mindful practice, students may want to retake the same IATs toward the end of the course, or upon completion of the course, and compare their results and reactions.

4. Next, learn more about Project Implicit and the IATs by reviewing the following pages: About Us, Learn More (Overview, About the IAT, Ethical Considerations, & Frequently Asked Questions).

5. Once you have completed the steps above, you can start thinking about and drafting your the reflection memo.

The reflection memo should include the information that follows, each category (i.e., each number/bullet should be its own section in the memo). This activity adapts on and expands Healey and O’Brien’s (n.d.) activity. REMEMBER: long memos should have a short introduction (without a section header saying “Introduction”) that helps the reader quickly determine what they will be reading about, why its significant, and provides them with a lay of the land of the memo. RECALL that at least 6 of 14 of the required readings from Modules 1 and 2 must be utilized to complete this activity. Recommended readings and the materials from the Project Implicit website may be used to supplement but not replace the inclusion of required readings. Outside research is not required (nor recommended) for this activity (unless absolutely necessary).

Address the following questions:

1. What is an “implicit” attitude? How does implicit prejudice differ from affective prejudice, stereotypes, social distance, and modern racism?

2. Drawing on the definitions and discussions of social equity from the required course readings, how do you see implicit attitudes shaping or relating to the pursuit of social equity?

When crafting responses to the prompts in this section, students are required to use at least one of the following suggested readings (drawn from the required reading list). See references for full details.To make differences among authors more visible—and to foster appreciation for diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation—all readings were presented in a modified APA format that included authors’ first names. However, students are required to use proper APA formatting in their assignments.

• Casey, John. (2023). Teaching About Nonprofits: The Global Dimensions.

• Gooden, Susan; Johnson, Richard, III; McCandless, Sean; & Berry-James, RaJade. (2023). The Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration: From Vision to Victory.

• Irizarry, José Luis. (2022). Integrating Mindfulness in Public and Nonprofit Education Programs to Foster Social Equity.

• McCandless, Sean A. & Guy, Mary E. (2020). The Social Equity Imperative.

Address the following questions (from Healey & O’Brien, n.d.):

1. Identify which IAT tests you took. If tests show you have a preference for one group over another, does this mean that you are prejudiced against the less preferred group?

2. Do you feel that the test accurately reflects your feelings and ideas? Why or why not? (Remember that your implicit attitudes can be quite different from your explicit or conscious attitudes.).

Students may use subheaders in this section to discuss specific IATs if they wish to go into more detail about the tests, their rationale, results, and connections to course topics or materials. Students are not required to divulge their specific results unless they choose to do so. The discussion here is an overall discussion about all of the IATs and their associated aggregated results.

When working on this section, students were providing with the following selections of course readings to consider (see references for details):

• Project Implicit website information (i.e., About IAT, Learn More, etc.)

• National Equity Project. (n.d). Leading for Equity Framework.

  • (Paying particular attention to “An Equity Leadership Stance.”)

• Sandberg, Billie; Eikenberry, Angela M.; & Mirabella, Roseanne M. (2019). Critical Perspectives on Nonprofit and Voluntary Organization Management: Introduction to the Textbook.

Based on what we have read so far in this course, how can implicit attitudes affect a diverse workplace? Provide at least two examples, utilizing at least four of the required course readings to support claims. (Students who want to engage in a more in-depth reflection may supplement their claims with any of the recommended readings provided in the course syllabus/Canvas, but only after utilizing the required number of required readings).

• Burchiellaro, Olimpia (2021). Queering control and inclusion in the contemporary organization: on ‘LGBT-friendly control’ and the reproduction of (queer) value.

• Capper, Colleen A. (2019). History of Organizational Theory and Equity in the Field.

• Diggs, Schnequa N.; Krewson, Rosa Castillo; & McCandless, Sean A. (2023). Intersectional Disparities During Crisis: Improving Social Equity Through Public and Nonprofit Management.

• Doyle, Robyn; & George, Usha. (2008). Achieving and measuring diversity: An organizational change approach.

• Fredette, Christopher & Bernstein, Ruth Sessler. (2021). Governance effectiveness: The interaction of ethno-racial diversity and social capital.

• Fulton, Brad R. (2021). Bridging the bonding: disentangling two mechanisms underlying the diversity-performance relationship.

• Gray, Barbara; Johnson, Tiffany; Kish-Gephart, Jennifer; & Tilton, Jacqueline. (2018). Identity work by first-generation college students to counteract class-based microaggressions.

• McMullin, Caitlin; & Raggo, Paloma. (2020). Leadership and governance in times of crisis: A balancing act for nonprofit boards.

• Mirabella, Roseanne; Nguyen, Khánh; & Feir, Maureen Emerson. (2023). Critical Pedagogy and Nonprofit Management Education: Refocusing Our Classrooms Toward Transformation and Liberation.

• Stout, Margaret. (2019). Pursuing Community Change Through Radically Democratic Practice.

Address the following question:

1. Should public administrators be trained to deal with implicit attitudes in the workplace? Why, why not? Support your claims utilizing at least two of the required readings assigned in the course thus far.

Students were encouraged to draw from any of the following resources (combination of required and recommended materials):

• American Society for Public Administration [ASPA]. (2013). Code of Ethics.

• Andrew, Scottie. & Kaur, Harmeet. (2020). Everyday words and phrases that have racist connotations.

• Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). (n.d.). Code of Ethics.

• Association of Fundraising Professionals [AFP]. (2014). Code of Ethical Standards.

• Evans, Michelle D. (2022). Public service ethics: Individual and institutional responsibilities: by James S. Bowman and Jonathan P. West.

• Irizarry, José Luis. (2023). Lessons in Social Equity: A Case Study Book, Edited by Richard Gregory Johnson III and Seth J. Meyer.

• Ebrahim, Alnoor. (2016). The Many Faces of Nonprofit Accountability.

• Independent Sector (2002). Obedience to the Unenforceable

• International City/County Management Association [ICMA]. (2023). ICMA Code of Ethics. https://icma.org/documents/icma-code-ethics-amended-june-2023

• McCandless, Sean, & Ronquillo, John. C. (2020). Social Equity in Professional Codes of Ethics.

• Svara, James H., & Brunet, James R. (2020). The importance of social equity to prevent a hollow public administration.

Address the following questions:

1. Were you personally surprised by the results of any of the tests (you do not have to disclose your results)?

2. If the IAT shows that you have a group preference you would rather not have, what are some things you could do to change yourself, utilizing at least two of the required readings assigned in the course thus far to support your claims?

3. If you are satisfied with your results, consider how others, perhaps a former or current colleague or course colleague might not be satisfied with their results and utilizing at least two of the required course materials thus far identify and explain at least three things that individual could do to change their assumptions and attitudes.

In this optional section, students can share any additional reflections, insights, experiences, thoughts, comments, questions, and or concerns. Students may also reflect on and discuss what was the most important thing they learned from taking the IAT and/or completing this activity.

All students must have an APA reference list.

I encourage readers who are interested in completing, assigning, or adapting this activity to incorporate readings from this edited volume alongside other disciplinary and professional materials that may resonate with their audiences.

Over the years, I have adapted this activity in special topics courses on public administration and civic engagement with Spanish-speaking communities, nonprofits and social equity, and emergencies and crises in the nonprofit sector. With each new iteration, I update between 25% and 50% of the readings based on student feedback from the previous semester.

Each adaptation includes multidisciplinary readings that are both directly related to the course theme and tangentially connected, designed to pique student interest. I also strive to provide students with enough choice so they can curate their experience and learning in ways most meaningful and applicable to them.

The activity is highly adaptable and can be integrated into a wide range of courses across undergraduate and graduate programs, including public service, nonprofit studies, human services, criminal justice, and social work.