Racial Stereotypes

How stereotypes impact performance assessments

People of color have more negative workplace experiences than their white colleagues, according to WorkLife Law research. They experience microaggressions and racial stereotypes that influence their performance assessments and career opportunities.

Microlesson Description

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.

Key Concepts

People of color encounter a variety of negative workplace experiences stemming from racial biases.
Tools to interrupt these biases in the flow of work.
Appreciation for each person’s unique talents and modeling how to speak up when you see co-workers relying on stereotypes.

How to Use this Content:

Use this content as part of your manager and leadership development programs, as part of ERG learning materials, and in the flow of work for hiring team training and before performance reviews. Joan C. Williams’ book, Bias Interrupted is available now.