Week 13 - How (un)ethical are you?

    How (un)ethical are you?  Most people would claim that they are very ethical, including me.  Banaji, Bazerman, and Chugh took on this hot topic with discussing how most people FEEL that they are very ethical, but when actual data is collected and analyzed, it is clear that there are biases even among the most aware people.  

    There are a couple of types of bias that are common - bias toward people who are similar to oneself, bias toward people who are popular or well liked, and bias toward people who are in a position to give the person in power something he or she wants.  If we accept that bias is happening, and acknowledge it's existence, what can we do about it?  

    In the Banaji, Bazerman, and Chugh study, they encouraged organizations to look at their structure, and trends in who is in positions of power (race, gender, etc) and also the make up of the majority of people in those positions.  Then, they encourage the organization to find a similar organization that has a make up that is different - women in power vs men in power positions, or a diverse workforce vs a homogeneous workforce.  Seeing how another organization works can offer credibility to the idea that diverse workforces can be successful.  

    They also discussed how people can change bias based on the gender or race of those around them in power positions.  In fact, one judge they mentioned was aware of her own bias against African American males as they were who often came through her courtroom due to trouble with the law.  During some time off, she subbed in a different area that had primarily white males as defendants to counteract her bias and make her more aware of her own thoughts. 

    How does this affect us in Education and Instructional Design?  Collect data.  Be systematically aware of how examples are represented to students regardless of education level.  Then, intentionally and actively work to change it.  Accept the fact that we're inherently biased, as much as we'd like to believe we're not.  And continue to work to break down barriers that are divisive in education. 


Banaji, M. R., Bazerman, M. H., & Chuch, D. (2003, December). How (unethical) are you? Harvard Business Review, 81(12), 56 - 65

Comments

  1. DreamCatApril 20, 2022 at 6:57 AM

    Thank you for sharing your reflection. Ethics is one of the important aspects that we should consider when conducting research.

    I agree with your opinion.
    I also thought of myself as very ethical. I think this itself has already been biased. People think that we are not perfect and we are animals that make mistakes. So, unintentionally, we sometimes make ethical errors unconsciously. This ethic is especially important for people like us who need to work with people. So, when we do research, that's why we need IRB approval.

    Here is my question for you.
    Why do you think you need IRB permission to conduct research in pedagogy? In fact, there is no such process in IT and engineering field.

    Best,
    Sunmi

    ReplyDelete

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