byDr. Karen Johnson, MPA Adjunct Faculty Member

June 8, 2020

I am an Adjunct Faculty member at The Evergreen State College (TESC). Check Your Bias at the Door is one of the classes I teach over a weekend. I especially appreciate teaching this weekend course at Evergreen because our students, faculty, and staff create learning communities to explore and implement socially just, democratic public service. We think critically and creatively; communicate effectively; work collaboratively; embrace diversity; we value fairness and equity; advocate powerfully on behalf of the public; and imagine new possibilities to accomplish positive change in our workplaces and in our communities.

We accomplish all of this in this class between Friday and Sunday night.

To be honest, I never really know what is going to happen each time I teach the class because each class is different. The students are in different life spaces and places. I do know that the students at the sound of my voice the first night of class are going to, by Sunday night, clearly realize that socially just, democratic, fair, and equitable public service is only going to happen when they, as public administrators, intentionally recognize and address their hidden biases and create a space for others to do the same.

Too often we hear leaders in the public sector say, “I don’t have bias and I definitely don’t see color. We are all the same.” Yet, the disparities, inequities, and disproportionality in outcomes among people groups belie these assertions.

Everyone has bias. Some we are conscious of and some operate on an unconscious level. Both types shape our perceptions and judgments about people’s character, abilities and potential behaviors. Fair and equitable public service is realized when public administrators intentionally recognize and address hidden biases.

Before attending the first class, students take the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT) and at least one other IAT of choice. The IAT results reveal hidden cognitive biases. They also read two books, several articles, and watch a couple of videos about identifying, addressing, and overcoming hidden biases. They write two papers. In the first paper, they clearly define their ongoing learning goals for addressing their biases. In the second paper, they identify two to four key take-aways from the required book readings, questions the required book readings raised for them, and any connections to current events or personal experience they  want to capture.

In class, we have real talk, real tears, and real transparency about what it takes deliver fair and equitable public service through anti-racist, multicultural public institutions. We began our journey by debunking the myth, “I don’t have bias and I definitely don’t see color. We are all the same,” openly experiencing and processing – in real time – the emotions that surface when exploring four key drivers for achieving fairness and equity in public service:

1. Making the unconscious conscious. (Self-awareness)

2. Deciding to act and lead fairly and equitably at all times. (Values)

3. Learning how to learn and think fairly and equitably at all times. (Retrain the brain)

4. Acting and leading fairly and equitably at all times. (Deliberate action)

On Sunday, the last day of class, the students give a 45-minute team presentation, bringing together the key learnings from the course. After the students finish their team presentations, I speak directly to the greatness I see in each student.

All of us are transformed by sharing this space together.