Authors: Thomas D. Albright, William A. Darity Jr., Diana Dunn, Rayid Ghani, Deena Hayes-Greene, Tanya Katerí Hernández and Sheryl Heron
Introduction: In their introduction to this edition of Dædalus, Goodwin Liu and Camara Phyllis Jones write that “it is unlikely that implicit bias can be effectively addressed by cognitive interventions alone, without broader institutional, legal, and structural reforms.” They note that the genesis for the volume was a March 2021 workshop on the science of implicit bias convened by the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.1 That workshop provided an opportunity to demonstrate that implicit bias is a common form of cognitive processing that develops in response to social, cultural, and institutional conditions. As demonstrated by the workshop and the essays in this volume, an understanding of implicit bias in a neurological, mechanistic, and phenomenological manner strengthens our ability to develop policies to diffuse and mitigate the problems that arise from implicit bias. At the end of the 2021 event, members of the interdisciplinary workshop planning committee gave their perspectives on the important messages that they would take away from the workshop. For the conclusion of this volume of Dædalus, we members of the planning committee were asked to expand on what we said three years ago. This is our response.
This piece was written for the Winter 2024 issue of Dædalus titled Understanding Implicit Bias: Insights & Innovations. In this special issue, leading scholars, scientists, and policymakers examine the science behind implicit bias—the residue of stereotyped associations and social patterns that exists outside our conscious awareness but reinforces inequality in the world. Understanding Implicit Bias: Insights & Innovations features research and perspectives from a range of areas, including antidiscrimination law, early education, neuroscience, policing, social psychology, and workforce.
