Can Training Eliminate Biases? Starbucks Will Test the Thesis

Following an incident at a Starbucks in Philadelphia that prompted charges of racial prejudice, Executive Chairman Howard Schultz called Demos President Heather McGhee to discuss the use of anti-bias training to prevent employees from making similar errors, reports the New York Times . Starbucks then announced that it would close all of its U.S. stores on May 29 to offer such training for 175,000 employees. Starbucks referred to unconscious or implicit bias, which occurs when people make decisions based partly on stereotypes while unaware that the stereotype has influenced them. The University of California, Berkeley's Jason Okonofua says anti-bias training "allows people to just think in a more mindful way when interacting with other people. It's putting yourself in the other person's shoes, seeing humanity in that person." Others caution that such training is a sensitive exercise that can be ineffective or backfire if managed incorrectly. American University's Seth Gershenson warns any training that involves explicitly telling people to set aside their biases is likely to fail as it demands so much mental energy it can exhaust people. "In the moment of stress, we tend to forget our training," says Mursion CEO Mark Atkinson. Some specialists contend the best way to eliminate unconscious bias is limiting the extent to which people engage in automatic, reflexive thinking, which can be done by steering employees toward more thoughtful and deliberative decision-making.