Stop Ignoring Implicit Bias. Confront it instead

I started working when I was twelve. In the 30+ years since, I’ve witnessed the significant challenges women face in the workplace.

This essay is about those challenges – my perception of their evolution and thoughts on what we can do about those facing women today.

My early years in the workforce were punctuated by sexual harassment. Lots of it. When I was a teenage cashier, my supervisor was known as “Bill the Perv” – a nickname he handily earned. As a waitress, I dreaded the end of my shifts, when I would be alone with the cook who made near-constant lewd comments. At another job I had, an executive invited me out for drinks and, after he had six, offered a quid pro quo arrangement: advancement in exchange for sex. I never said a word about any of this.

I suspect much of the sexual harassment I experienced would not fly today – thanks, in part, to the Me Too movement, which cast a light on abuse that previously lurked in the shadows and largely converted sexual harassment from something that “just happened” to something intolerable.

In short, I’ve witnessed a significant evolution when it comes to some of the more distressing challenges. But what about the less conspicuous ways being a woman at work can be difficult?

What about implicit bias – internalized stereotypes that unconsciously affect perceptions, actions, and assumptions? This bias can be subtle, causing many of us to ask ourselves, “Was that because of my sex?” Spoiler alert: it probably was.

Here are a few examples of how it plays out in the legal industry today:

  • A male partner asks a female associate (and not her male colleagues) to take lunch orders at dozens of depositions in a big case;
  • A court deputy demands to see a female attorney’s ID to prove she is, in fact, the person identified in the bar card she presented, while letting her male colleague enter with his bar card alone;
  • An assigning attorney overlooks a female associate when staffing a high-profile case, thinking it would be too much because she recently had a baby;
  • A judge running a settlement conference assumes the only female attorney in the room is a paralegal, which he articulates in front of the female attorney’s client;
  • Opposing counsel generally acts more aggressively and less cooperatively when dealing with a female, as opposed to male, attorney.

So, what should we do about this?

We must acknowledge the existence of implicit bias. It serves no one to pretend it’s a thing of the past. It’s not. And when we witness it, we should name it, confront it, and – where possible – interrupt it.

For example, in the court-deputy scenario above, the male colleague could choose to show his ID to the deputy, asking “Do you need to see mine, too?” This may prompt the deputy to recognize the disparity in his treatment of the male and female attorneys. And perhaps as they walk into the courtroom together, the male attorney could ask the female attorney, “What was up with that?” – thereby acknowledging what happened and inviting dialogue about it.

By coming together as an industry to acknowledge, name, and confront implicit bias, we can continue advancing the ball, passing down a more equitable industry for generations to come.

I am lucky enough to work now at a forward-thinking, women-and-minority-owned firm founded on principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (truly), where we regularly engage with the kinds of issues addressed in this essay. I invite everyone to do the same.