Carmel Saad, Westmont associate professor of psychology, will explore implicit bias, the unconscious prejudices that are absorbed in childhood and persist into adulthood, in a 5:30 p.m. talk on April 12 at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St.
The Westmont Downtown lecture, Hidden Prejudices: How Implicit Bias Affects Our Work and Relationships, is free to attend. It is sponsored by the Westmont Foundation. Tickets are not required, but the limited seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Saad, who began teaching at Westmont in fall 2012, will discuss the prevalence of certain biases and research on strategies to reduce their impact.
“The importance of being aware of inequities in our world calls on us to first more closely examine hidden prejudices in our own minds,” she said.
“Human brains gravitate toward biases, as we internalize society’s stereotypes unknowingly. Thus our brains reflect society’s preferences, which can insidiously undermine our best intentions toward social justice,” Saad said.
“Identifying how our biases affect behavior can help manage their effect on outcomes,” she said.
Saad graduated from UCSB and earned a master of arts and a doctorate from UC Davis. She taught at UC Davis, Napa Valley College and the University of the Pacific before coming to Westmont.
For more information about the talk, call 565-6051.
— Scott Craig for Westmont College.