Teaching About Implicit Bias in the Classroom

 From the 3/5/2021 newsletter

Perspective/Opinion

Teaching About Implicit Bias in the Classroom

 

by Sandra Pfister, PhD, and Kerrie Quirk, MEd

 

Dr. Pfister and Ms. Quirk describe the course they co-lead in the KINETIC3 program which helps faculty recognize and mitigate their implicit bias when teaching...

 

The definition of implicit bias is: “the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.” Let's use a True/False question to see what you think: True or False? I have no implicit bias.  Correct answer: FALSE. Every one of us has implicit bias because that's a function of how our brains work. What happens when implicit bias takes over when we are teaching? Maybe you say that women don't have heart disease. Not said with intention, but isn't heart disease a man's disease? Or when teaching about skin disease, maybe you only show images from white patients. Not done with intention, but maybe because those were the same images used when you were a student.

Using a combination of didactics and active learning, our KINETIC3 course is structured to allow participants to explore their own implicit bias. Prework is to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT). IAT begins to connect learners with attitudes and beliefs they may not know they have (unconscious or implicit bias). The IAT website gives this example: "You may believe that women and men should be equally associated with science, but your automatic associations could show that you (like many others) associate men with science more than you associate women with science." Each KINETIC3 learner is given the opportunity to discuss their own experience with the IAT. 

This course also offers a more in-depth discussion on the meaning of implicit bias, and we delve into the role of the brain. Think FAST. Think SLOW. Think FAST involves those parts of our brain outside of conscious awareness. For example, let's say you stop your car at a red light. When the light turns green, you know to go. This mental association requires no conscious or effortful thought. In contrast, Think SLOW is the brain's conscious processing. It's what we use for mental tasks that require concentration, such as a taking an exam. Together, Think FAST and Think SLOW parts of the brain help us make sense of the world. But it is also the Think FAST parts of our brain that contribute to unconscious bias. This session looks at times when unconscious bias is activated in our brains and shows up in our teaching (when we are rushed, when we are fatigued, or when we are unprepared) and offers strategies to help. We also show a video clip from a PBS special to highlight how medical education has contributed to systemic racism and the role of institutions in contributing to implicit bias. Through small group break-out rooms, learners are given the chance to reflect on their own role as medical educators to ensure a diverse and inclusive representation in clinical case-based material.

This KINETIC3 course aligns with a Kern Institute Transformational Ideas Initiative (TI2) project led by Kerrie Quirk to design a reflection check list for faculty to assess the clinical cases currently being used in the preclinical curriculum. The project is called Identifying Bias in Classroom Clinical Cases: A Structured Approach to Make Clinical Cases More Diverse and Inclusive. Since no KINETIC3 course is complete without a chance to spin the Character Wheel, we end the session with discussion on how specific character traits can play a role in mitigating our own implicit bias. 

Sandra Pfister, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at MCW. She is a member of the Faculty Pillar of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education. 

Kerrie Quirk, MEd, is a Program Manager in MCW’s Office of Educational Improvement.