Google Translate Fail: Managing Unconcious Bias in a Multilingual Setting |
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Friday, 16 February 2018 Over the past several years in the American workplace, diversity and inclusivity have become critical buzzwords for management and human resource teams. Particularly in the NGO and non-profit world, proven ability to work successfully in a multicultural environment is often specifically listed as a required competence on job postings. Though most individuals in this industry will be familiar with the general concept of bias, defined as “a prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared with another” by the UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach, what many don’t realize is that there are two types of bias: conscious (or explicit) bias, and unconscious (or implicit) bias.
Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people, which individuals form without awareness or intention. Unlike cases of overt discrimination, unconscious bias can be difficult to document, or even believe. Examples of this could include:
These biases are far more prevalent than conscious prejudice, and are often at odds with one’s own self-identified values. Understanding and managing unconscious bias in the workplace has become a priority amongst organizations that value diversity and inclusivity in their workforce. Managers can and should pay attention to the small issues that may be brought to their attention by various members of their teams; they should practice micro-affirmations and build on strength and success, rather than first identifying faults and weakness; additionally, managers should be tasked with teaching the principles of changing behavior, and exploring options about how to do it (paraphrased from Mary Rowe’s article). Despite the growing, worldwide familiarity with the concept of unconscious bias, international organizations may struggle to foster conversations about it for one key, but overlooked reason: most of the dialogue about unconscious bias has been in English. A number of free eLearning resources on the topic have already been developed and made publicly available, but target only an English-speaking audience (links at the end of this article). Building the capacity of multilingual teams in this area is an additional challenge for the managers of international NGOs. At this point, you may be asking yourself, why would this be more difficult than any other translation task? International NGOs are already pretty adept at this--medical guidelines are available in multiple languages; communication and outreach materials are regularly translated into multiple languages. What is so unique about unconscious bias? There are three things to consider when translating resources about unconscious bias to another language, or adapting them to another country: 1) the continuously evolving lexicon of English terms on the subject, 2) the fact that biases are unique to each local culture and context, and 3) a direct equivalent of the English terms may not exist in many languages. Social psychology is a particularly difficult field to adequately adapt to foreign settings. Thankfully, the team at Language and Culture Worldwide (LCW), a woman-owned small business dedicated to the issues of culture and language in professional settings, has applied their entrepreneurial mindset to this very problem. LCW offers a comprehensive platform of eLearning tools (for a cost), including a course called Introduction to Managing Unconscious Bias, which is available in more than 25 languages. Through creating this content and presenting it in a number of different environments, LCW has also compiled and vetted a multilingual diversity and inclusion glossary, which NGO and nonprofit managers can use to adapt existing English-language tools to a variety of linguistic and cultural settings. (To preview LCWs multilingual tools, contact Rebecca Parrilla at Rebecca[at]LCWmail.com
Everyone has unconscious biases, and not all our biases are bad or wrong. Hidden biases can act as mental shortcuts, enabling us to make faster decisions--a relic of the “fight or flight” reflex. When these unconscious biases are harmful, however, they “rob organizations of the talent and skills from engaged employees” (DBP, 2012). The international NGO sector is no more immune to the problems of unconscious bias than a multinational corporation. We must therefore acknowledge and treat our hidden prejudices, both as individuals and organizations, in order to retain our most valuable asset: our members. Free online trainings and additional resources (English only):
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