"Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance," Verna Myers tells Cleveland Bar

DSC_0950.jpg

Diversity and inclusion expert Verna Myers, founder and president of Verna Myers Consulting Group and star of a TED Talk on overcoming bias, told the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association that overcoming prejudice starts with identifying our unconscious biases and trying to rewire our brains to welcome differences and think more inclusively.

(courtesy Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Assn.)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Diversity and inclusion consultant Verna Myers recently told the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association that she's more than qualified to teach others to think about their unconscious biases, "because I've been dealing with diversity my whole life," she said. "I've been black and a woman my whole life."

Myers, whose TED Talk on overcoming bias has received nearly 1.2 million views, introduced herself as a "recovering attorney" who remains "outrageously optimistic that we can in fact overcome barriers and have a truly diverse workplace."

Verna Myers said it's not enough to want diversity; organizations need to welcome and embrace diverse perspectives.

Despite perceptions that we keep having the same conversations without seeing much progress, she said: "This is the best time to be doing diversity and inclusion training in our country and in our world, because there are so many opportunities" to move forward.

"Of course, there are also people who are trying to take us back," she added, as heads in the audience nodded.

Myers stressed that promoting diversity and inclusion needs to go beyond words. When Harvard Law School admitted its first female students in 1953, the women quickly discovered that the Ivy League school had not provided any bathrooms for them.

"So, what's the message?" Myers asked the audience. "Don't stay long," came the answer from someone in the crowd, as she laughed.

Harvard Law School eventually installed a bathroom -- a single toilet in a janitor's closet in the basement of the building, and that all the female students had to share.

"Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance," Myers said.

Scott Page, professor of political science and economics at the University of Michigan, demonstrated using a formaal mathematical formula that a diverse group of people with different skills and perspectives "found better solutions to problems and made more accurate predictions than a homogeneous group of people of high achievers who think alike."

Myers said embracing inclusion requires "the institution's ability to fully integrate its understanding of and appreciation for the diverse cultures and backgrounds of its employees."

She said a man once asked her what he should say to his employee who was visibly pregnant, because he had been so afraid of saying the wrong thing. She told him: "I think you've already said the wrong thing by not saying anything."

If that employee was worried about how having a baby was going to change things at work, her supervisor had done nothing to alleviate her concerns. Instead, that woman got the message that her pregnancy was making people uncomfortable because "we were all the same, and then you had the nerve to be different."

Myers said she has always been drawn to the idea of unconscious biases and blind spots and what happens in our unconscious mind. "Our brains are highly habitual. Our brains start reaching conclusions without immediately telling us that it's doing so," she said. "It's looking for things that go together; 'what have I been habituated to understand goes together?' We're backing up and moving toward people in social situations all the time."

Myers talked about the time she and a colleague were hopelessly lost in New York, and how relieved she felt when she spotted a black man nearby, because surely he know where he was and could help them. But as she strode toward him, she said her Asian woman friend hung back, having entirely different associations with strangers who looked like him.

"Biases are the stories we make up about people before we learn who they are," Myers said. They are especially apparent "when things are high-risk, or you have to make quick decisions."

More than 5 million people have taken Harvard's Implicit Association Test (IAT), at www.implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo, which aims to help people identify their unconscious biases. Among those who have taken the test:

-- 80 percent of people prefer younger people over older ones.

-- 75 percent of the people prefer white people over minorities.

-- 45 percent of the black people taking the test also favor white people over people of color.

"What we learned after Michael Brown was shot is that police officers are deeply ingrained with erroneous ideas about who's dangerous. Looking at pictures of black kids, they're adding four years to their age, and are told that 'black people are crazy strong and have crazy [levels of] pain tolerance,'" Myers said.

"This is quite frankly about people being in denial. The biggest barrier is that we're in denial about our unconscious bias," she said. "This investment in our self-image as good people is preventing us from moving forward. We don't need any more good people; we need real, authentic people."

After musicians started auditioning for orchestras from behind curtains, "the number of women in top U.S. orchestras increased five-fold," she said.

We have so many ways to favor those in the "in group" while excluding those who aren't, including keeping them in their place with subtle but often intentional "micro inequities." Regardless of the intention, the pain and the impact is the same, she said.

"We want the straightest gay people, and the whitest black people. We want that first-generation immigrant to act like they've been chilling in this place forever," she said. "When you look at another person [of the same race or ethnic group], you see your future success in them," but you don't see the same possibilities in those who are different.

Some of her suggestions for getting beyond bias included:

"To move ahead, you have to go looking for your biases and stay on top of them," she said. "Look at your Facebook feed, look at your Twitter feeds," and consider how diverse they are. "Build relationships across differences. Get closer. Get uncomfortable."

"Go somewhere where you're the minority. Go to the 'black gay women with disabilities film festival,' because this is where you can confront your biases," she said. "It would be nice to be [treated by the majority group like] an individual, and not the spokesperson or cultural resource for your people."

"Don't allow colleagues to say offensive things without interrupting them. Intervene and be an ally. Don't laugh at offensive jokes. Be responsible for the success of at least one or maybe two people," she said. "Privilege: Once you see it, you can use it to help other people. Interrupt bias on behalf of someone else."

Follow @janetcho

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.