Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations

Employees from minoritized and subjugated groups have poorer work experiences and fewer opportunities for advancement than do their peers. Biases among decision makers likely contributes to these patterns. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the explicit biases and implicit biases among p...

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Main Authors: George B. Cunningham, Harper R. Cunningham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1034712/full
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author George B. Cunningham
Harper R. Cunningham
author_facet George B. Cunningham
Harper R. Cunningham
author_sort George B. Cunningham
collection DOAJ
description Employees from minoritized and subjugated groups have poorer work experiences and fewer opportunities for advancement than do their peers. Biases among decision makers likely contributes to these patterns. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the explicit biases and implicit biases among people in management occupations (e.g., chief executives, operations managers, advertising and promotions managers, financial managers, and distributions managers, among others) and (b) compare their biases with people in 22 other occupations. The authors analyzed responses from visitors to the Project Implicit website, including assessments of their racial, gender, disability, and sexual orientation biases from 2012 to 2021. Results indicate that managers expressed moderate levels of explicit and implicit bias across all dimensions. Managers differed from people in other occupations in roughly one-third of the comparisons. The biggest differences came in their implicit biases, with managers expressing more bias than people in other occupations. The study’s originality rests in the scope of the work (the authors analyzed data from over 5 million visitors representing 23 broad occupations); comparison of people in management occupations to those in other work settings; and empirically demonstrating the biases that managers have.
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spelling doaj.art-f3bfb269ff3b44089c502b6a0f4272b12022-12-22T04:38:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-11-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.10347121034712Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupationsGeorge B. Cunningham0Harper R. Cunningham1Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, Department of Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesEmory University, Atlanta, GA, United StatesEmployees from minoritized and subjugated groups have poorer work experiences and fewer opportunities for advancement than do their peers. Biases among decision makers likely contributes to these patterns. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the explicit biases and implicit biases among people in management occupations (e.g., chief executives, operations managers, advertising and promotions managers, financial managers, and distributions managers, among others) and (b) compare their biases with people in 22 other occupations. The authors analyzed responses from visitors to the Project Implicit website, including assessments of their racial, gender, disability, and sexual orientation biases from 2012 to 2021. Results indicate that managers expressed moderate levels of explicit and implicit bias across all dimensions. Managers differed from people in other occupations in roughly one-third of the comparisons. The biggest differences came in their implicit biases, with managers expressing more bias than people in other occupations. The study’s originality rests in the scope of the work (the authors analyzed data from over 5 million visitors representing 23 broad occupations); comparison of people in management occupations to those in other work settings; and empirically demonstrating the biases that managers have.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1034712/fulldiversity and inclusionbiasstereotypesdiscriminationmanagement
spellingShingle George B. Cunningham
Harper R. Cunningham
Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
Frontiers in Psychology
diversity and inclusion
bias
stereotypes
discrimination
management
title Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
title_full Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
title_fullStr Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
title_full_unstemmed Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
title_short Bias among managers: Its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
title_sort bias among managers its prevalence across a decade and comparison across occupations
topic diversity and inclusion
bias
stereotypes
discrimination
management
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1034712/full
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