Effects of repeated implicit bias training in a North American university

ABSTRACT

Although implicit bias training programs have become common, the effects of these programs on employee attitudes and behaviours are still unclear, particularly when it comes to the efficacy of repeated, mandatory training. Additional understanding of these programs’ efficacy is needed for setting effective training policy. We measured the effects of training in a mandatory bias literacy program for academic staff involved in personnel decisions at an American public university, specifically by examining the relationship among bias-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours and two training variables: the number of times training had been completed, and the time since last training. Time since training had a beneficial effect on behavioural intentions whereas training repetition showed a slight detrimental effect. Results of demographic factors investigated indicated effects of gender, amount of personnel-related committee service, and years at the university on training outcomes. Implications of these results for training policy at universities are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Implicit bias
• personnel committees
• training effectiveness
• training policy
• diversity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tom Cogswell who helped in data collection. Personnel and other support were received from the provost’s office at the university where the study was conducted and from an NSF ADVANCE grant (#1760585).

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose. This research was funded by the NSF under ADVANCE Grant #1760585.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2145927.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the NSF [1760585].