The topic of implicit bias gained significant traction over the past few years and a lot of work to address this seems to be linked to commercial sector and business performance. There are other sectors, however. where implicit bias could have negative implications and research is one of them. Research underpins key messages to the general public which informs decisions on health, finances and even our consumption of the arts so gaining a better understanding of implicit bias goes beyond a healthy bottom line. The purpose of the round table was to highlight the existence of and ramifications of implicit bias within research.
The roundtable was moderated by Annika Allen and I was joined by:
- Jean-Brice Ghislain Tetka (Network Analysis and Graph Convulution to Assess Risk of Violent Socio Political Crisis)
- Dr Andre Mostert – Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Kingston University
- Cedric Lombion – School of Data
- Julian Alexander (The Cinematic Hip-Hop Narrative: using Rap as the Primary Storytelling Tool on Screen)
- Beatrice Newman – Head the Department of Fashion, School Of Arts And Creative Industries at the University of East London
It was an insightful event where early career researchers and longer established academics discussed bias in research through the lens of social science, data analysis and pedagogy.
I shared how my own implicit bias informed the research question of my PhD but ultimately helped to identify how policy interventions designed to encourage a widespread shift towards lower emission travel benefit some segments of the population more than others.
Jean and Cedric talked about the implications of how the absence of certain types of data in some countries can affect the insights of data analysis and Cedric offered some perspective regarding how some indigenous communities can have a deep distrust of data collection.
Julian Alexander completed the discussion by sharing how learning Shakespeare by rapping it revealed the synergy between the two styles and helps him to make these types of work more accessible to younger audiences. Julian closed the session by rapping The Mariner by Edgar Allen Poe.
Sessions like these serve as a reminder that it’s crucial for academia to be diverse so that when we bring different perspectives, ideas and unconscious biases into discussions we are challenged to see beyond our own experiences.