Self Awareness in the Workplace Implicit Bias, Intersectionality, and Selective Perception PDF

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Select three factors from the list and write an essay as to how your attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors are affected positively or negatively by them in a personal and organizational context. Back up with the latest research available.
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Self Awareness in the Workplace: Implicit Bias, Intersectionality, and Selective Perception University of the People: Organizational Theory and Behavior (Unit 2, Group 0045) April 19, 2021

As one of my closest mentors says “people are messy and workplaces can be messy”. During my time in the professional world and considering the social, economic, and political changes and circumstances over my 10 years as a working adult, I have found this to be true. While individuals and organizations have been faced with a number of drastic factors influencing work, office culture, and confrontation of values, beliefs and behaviors, I observe a shift towards more self awareness, personal responsibility, willingness to to have difficult conversations, and growth in workers, managers, and organizations. Taking a look at ourselves, our values, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors, is no easy undertaking but is essential to healthy communication, interpersonal work relationships, and organizational life. The following analysis will include evaluation of my own challenges, areas of growth, and successes related to stereotypes, intersectionality, and projection. Implicit Bias Implicit bias is a form of a stereotype or prejudice and “suggests that people can act on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so” (Stanford University, 2019, p. 1). I grew up in a rural area that was predominantly populated by people of European descent and some people of color. Most everyone was poor and working class, very few people would have considered themselves educated or professional but those that were, were of European descent. Later in life I moved to an urban area where suddenly everyone seemed to have multiple degrees, office jobs, and made a lot of money, almost the opposite of how I grew up. I would ride the Metro to work and my implicit bias would kick in as I observed individuals. The most consistent bias when I would see black men wearing suits was to think “Oh good for them! They must have gotten a scholarship to college and now they’ve made it!”. Based on my background, no one

really wore suits, let alone black men. My implicit bias was that successful black men were an anomaly and that in order to be professional, black men had to have help or assistance. My perception shifted when I began to learn the history of the Washington, DC area and that the African American population has been well established and relatively successful in this city for a long time. Just because I was observing this for the first time didn’t mean that it hadn’t existed before. From this experience, I’ve learned to question my perception before taking action and not to make assumptions to the best of my ability. Intersectionality “First coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality is a framework for understanding how social identities (such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity) overlap with one another and with systems of power that oppress and advantage people in the workplace and broader community” (Catalyst: Workplaces That Work for Women, 2021, p. 1). Approaching my work relationships with an intersectional perspective has played a significantly positive role in my work and personal life and has helped me become more self aware and empathetic towards others. Currently I work for two black women business owners as their executive assistant and navigating our intersectional identities has been key to a healthy work relationship. Our work in activism and social justice constantly touches on race, gender, religion, sexual and gender orientation. During conference calls I regularly gauge my contribution to conversations and how I offer experience and opinions. I am careful not to offer options or suggestions in areas where I don’t have experience or I don’t identify, especially when I haven’t been asked for my opinion. Gender and being a woman is an identity that my bosses and I share and over the years I’ve learned to recognize that being a woman of African descent is much

different than being a woman of European descent. In this way I can connect and contribute in a way that shows empathy, self awareness, and positively benefits our work. The challenge for me as an employee has been, and continues to be, knowing when my voice and contribution is valuable and when I need to prioritize listening and asking questions. Selective Perception “Selective perception refers to the process by which we select, categorize, and analyze stimuli from our environment to create meaningful experiences while blocking out stimuli that contradicts our beliefs or expectations. That is, we focus on certain aspects in our environment while excluding others” (Selective Perception: Theory & Examples, 2015, p.1). My identity as an administrator, type A personality, and a problem solver creates a foundation for selective perception that hasn’t always been positive in my worklife. My tendency is to always look for areas of improvement and the primary purpose of my job is to problem solve. The result is that I selectively focus on areas of improvement and rarely acknowledge successes. Instead of taking the time to celebrate and appreciate our work successes, I immediately analyze what we could have done better or am on to the next problem that needs to be solved. Conclusion Reflecting on the factors that influence our values, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors, in our work and personal lifes is important and becoming more common in the workplace. The self awareness generated by this reflection makes for healthier organizations composed of workers who are willing to have difficult conversations, take responsibility, and modify their behavior to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion.

References: Catalyst: Workplaces That Work for Women. (2021, February 4). Why Intersectionality Matters Even More in 2020. Catalyst. https://www.catalyst.org/2020/08/18/intersectionality-workplace-2020/

Mayhew, R. (2018, November 28). How does behavior affect work performance? Bizfluent. https://bizfluent.com/info-8617280-behavior-affect-work-performance.html

McLeod, S. (2018). Attitudes and behaviors. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/attitudes.html

Selective Perception: Theory & Examples. (2015, August 15). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/selective-perception-theory-examples.html.

Stanford University. (2019, July 31). Implicit Bias (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/...