Workshop: Unravelling Unconscious Bias

On 14 April 2021, the fifth event in the framework of the “Racism in Academia” series took place, with the special guest Dr Pragya Agarwal.

In this event, Dr Pragya Agarwal discussed the science of how our biases are formed, and how we are all biased. She discussed how stereotypes are formed, why benevolent stereotypes are harmful, and how these manifest in the form of microaggressions, what the impact of microaggressions are, and why it is so important to address the implicit and subversive forms of biases. Beyond race and gender, Dr Agarwal also discussed a range of other biases such as age, accent, names, etc, and technology. Dr Agarwal is a behavioral and data scientist, and the author of 'Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias' and 'Wish we knew what to say: Talking with children about race' both published last year, and she is the founder of a research think-tank 'The 50 Percent Project'. Her next book (M)OTHERHOOD: On the choices of being a woman is out on 3 June. She hosts the podcasts 'Outside the Boxes' and 'Wish We Knew' to accompany the book of the same name.

Moderation: Cornelia Klocker / Felicia Afriyie