Prejudice

We tend to hold attitudes, assumptions, or expectations about people based on group membership, often without realizing it. While prejudice is commonly linked with explicit acts of bias, it's the more subtle, unconscious forms that quietly shape our decisions, perceptions, and interactions.

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Now, back to Prejudice ⏬

Not all prejudice looks like prejudice

Sometimes it looks like:

😬 “They just don’t seem like a fit.”
😮 “I can’t put my finger on it, something just feels off.”
🤬 They’re great, but I don’t see them in a leadership role.”

These aren’t hate-filled comments. They’re not shouted across a room or typed in all caps.

They’re quiet.
They're polite.
They're vague.

And that’s what makes them hard to catch, and harder to challenge.

Most of the prejudice that shapes our teams and companies today doesn’t come from bad people. It comes from default thinking. From gut instincts. From comfort. From years of absorbing who looks like a leader, who sounds like a developer, who feels “trustworthy.”

We all have those defaults. The question is: do we let them make decisions for us?

Prejudice isn’t just a personal blind spot. It’s a systems issue.

It shapes:

⇢ Who gets hired
⇢ Who gets mentored
⇢ Who gets cut slack
⇢ Who gets training
⇢ Whose ideas get traction

If we want diverse teams to succeed, we have to do more than invite people in. We have to question the instincts that make some people invisible once they arrive. This kind of reflection is uncomfortable, but necessary! Because if we don’t see it, we can’t fix it.

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Unpacking Hidden Prejudices:... Jul 17 · Beyond UX Design 12:15   ​

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The word “prejudice” usually brings to mind open hostility or discrimination, but cognitive science has shown a more complex and widespread reality. Essentially, prejudice means pre-judging others, forming opinions about individuals or groups without enough knowledge. While explicit prejudice happens consciously (and is becoming more stigmatized), implicit prejudice silently influences us in the background of our thinking, often without us realizing.

In the late 20th century, psychologists started looking beyond what people said they believed to focus on how they actually behaved, especially in situations that required quick decisions or gut reactions. In 1998, researchers Anthony Greenwald, Debbie McGhee, and Jordan Schwartz introduced the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure subconscious biases. Participants were asked to quickly sort words and images, and their response times revealed deep-rooted mental associations, such as linking certain races or genders with specific traits or roles.

This research showed that even people who explicitly endorsed egalitarian and progressive views often exhibited implicit biases that contradicted their stated beliefs. These biases are shaped by cultural exposure, media, education, and experiences, and can exist even without any malicious intent. They function more like cognitive shortcuts that allow us to make rapid decisions, but at the cost of fairness and objectivity.

Prejudice manifests in everyday decisions, such as hiring, mentoring, performance evaluations, and even casual conversations. A resume with a “foreign-sounding” name might be judged differently. A teammate’s idea might be dismissed based on age, gender, or background. Over time, these small unfairnesses add up to systemic disadvantages. Recognizing this doesn’t mean we’re bad people; it means we’re human. But it also means we have a responsibility to break these patterns when we see them.

In team settings—especially cross-functional ones—prejudice can quietly undermine collaboration, trust, and innovation. Unlike explicit bias, which is easier to recognize and combat, implicit bias exists in the gray areas: who gets heard in meetings, who receives the “stretch” projects, or whose mistakes are forgiven versus remembered.

For example, a senior engineer might unconsciously defer to another teammate who has a similar background or communication style, even if that person is less qualified. A product manager might assume that marketing lacks technical depth or that junior team members are less likely to have strategic insights. These assumptions aren’t openly expressed, but they influence behavior: who gets included in early discussions, whose feedback is prioritized, and whose voices fade into the background.

This bias can influence performance reviews and promotion decisions. A manager may describe one employee as a “natural leader” and another as “not quite ready,” despite similar outputs. These are subtle differences that often correlate with identity markers like race, gender, or age. Even well-meaning teams can unknowingly recreate systemic barriers if they fail to recognize how these patterns operate.

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🎯 Here are some key takeaways

1️⃣ Don’t confuse intent with impact: You don’t have to mean harm to cause harm. Implicit bias can influence how we treat others, even when we believe we're being fair. Acknowledging this helps teams take responsibility for outcomes, not just intentions.

2️⃣ Slow down your snap judgments: Sorry tech bros, but Implicit bias thrives in speed and ambiguity. When you feel yourself making a quick assessment—about someone’s competence, attitude, or fit—pause and ask: “What evidence am I basing this on?” Being reflective helps reduce bias.

3️⃣ “Fit” is not a free pass for exclusion: Hiring or promotion decisions often fall back on the idea of “fit.” But without clear definitions and rubrics, that word becomes a proxy for familiarity. Replace it with structured, job-relevant criteria.

4️⃣ Track who gets heard, not just who speaks: It’s easy to miss patterns when everyone is “contributing.” Track who gets airtime in meetings, whose suggestions become actions, and who gets interrupted. These metrics reveal more than intention ever will.

5️⃣ Bias often feels neutral. Interrogate your instincts: If a decision feels like a “gut call,” slow down. Ask: Is this based on evidence or comfort? Often, our instincts are shaped by cultural norms rather than objectivity.
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Learn more about Prejudice!

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