Racial Stereotypes

According to Work LIfe Law's research, individuals from diverse racial backgrounds often have more difficult workplace experiences than their white counterparts. Research showed that the impact of microaggressions and racial stereotypes significantly influence their performance evaluations and career advancement opportunities.

In this skill-building microlesson, we teach people to view their language and judgments from a racially inclusive lens as they consider, express, and document their perceptions about their colleagues. We offer downloadable exercises to help leaders and teams develop sensitivity to racial stereotypes and the skill to interrupt biases in real-time.

This microlesson is part of the Bias Interrupters program series based on Joan Williams and WorkLife Law's research on effective interventions to mitigate workplace bias. This microlesson series is also available in a full course with downloadable exercises to enable individual or group practice.

Definition of Racial Stereotypes Bias: Assumptions made about the personal abilities, behaviors, characteristics, or status of a racial group.

• Use the Workplace Color Spectrum® to pause and analyze behaviors, rate the behavior, then take action.
• How to give someone feedback that their behavior is “orange” when they see rude or insensitive behavior.
• Learn how to stop and apologize when you’re aware of saying something inappropriate.
• Why bad behavior can happen because of our blindspots.

Microlesson Features

• Employee sentiment pulsing questions that provide leaders with insights into their workforce's core cultural competencies
• Emtrain's Expert Answers tool, enabling employeees to submit anonymous questions about sensitive issues.

• Rich, contemporary video scences illustrating key concepts through realistic scenarios
• A data driven, skill-based approach to eLearning that establishes a shared language for employees.

Preview Microlesson