Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias by Pragya Agarwal. Pragya is a behavior and data scientist and currently a visiting professor of Social Inequities and Injustice at Loughborough University. Pragya holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham.
She has been a visiting professor at University College London (UK), University of Melbourne, University of Temuco (Chile), University of California Santa Barbara, and Johns Hopkins University. She is the founder of a research think-tank The 50 Percent Project investigating women’s status and rights around the world. Pragya has launched podcasts Wish We Knew What to Say and Outside The Boxes on PodBean. In addition, Pragya has just published Wish We Knew What to Say (April ’22) and previously published (M)otherhood, the choices of being a woman.
Sway is providing an in-depth look at the very difficult topic of unconscious bias. Pragya is attempting to document not only how we identify unconscious bias, but how one may begin to unravel this specifically across our society.
What should immediately confront all readers is this is similar to slaying a three-headed (neuro, cognitive and behavioral) science dragon. In reading this book I found that multiple touch points certainly align along Daniel Kahneman’s excellent work in Thinking, Fast and Slow. Actually, this also compliments Bias Interrupted by Joan C. Williams and Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez.
How we do not see the obvious
It was very interesting to understand not only how Pragya is addressing race and gender, but even how our foreign accents are impacting natives. Ah, finally anyone as a second language speaker traveling abroad may see a new perspective on how bias is impacting yourself. Just think of the American trying to speak in a foreign accent and carrying a small English to (insert language here) dictionary. And there you have the stereotype and certainly with a side of bias.
When you meet someone new and they are, for instance, wearing a T-shirt with your favourite football team’s crest on it, in most cases, you are bound to feel a certain affinity with them and decide subconsciously that you already like them. Your attitudes will be shaped by this initial judgement and perception. These are explicit biases, ones that you can recognise and explain to someone else. On the other hand, if you meet someone and feel uncomfortable around them but are not able to articulate why that might be, it could be that this person reminds you of someone from your past who you did not get along with or is part of a community that you are uncomfortable with. This is an implicit bias.
pg. 54
For any academician, there is certainly a large amount research data Pragya is providing. The bias series of books that I am now reading really benefits me from Pragya’s work. Yet for every reader, there are impactful examples of how bias can certainly influence many elements of our lives:
Critical thinking becomes impaired and there is a rise of intense emotion within the group, which leads to impassioned behaviour based on biased beliefs and emotions. This is when tribalism comes into play. We belong to a tribe. We want to belong to a tribe. An extreme example – but nevertheless a very valid one – could be understanding how people justified the atrocities against the Jews during the Holocaust as part of their moral compass. They believed that it was OK because the group they identified with believed so too.
pg. 54-55
The Bobbsey Twins
Accordingly, Chapter 5 will be the most enlightening for American readers: political bias. At first, Pragya provides a good dissemination of the UK Brexit movement. However, to understand political bias, it becomes clear why this shift in voting was developing. Pragya is then able to apply that bias in documenting how Trump mimicked UK Brexit voting:
Trump’s election and the rise of far-right ideology in several parts of Europe can also be attributed to the rise of authoritarianism and social dominance ideology. The social dominance ideology is a belief in a ‘dog-eat-dog world’ and a need to dominate those lower in the hierarchy. This is a well-studied phenomenon in psychology, triggered by threat and fear and characterised by deference to authority, aggression toward out-groups, a rigidly hierarchical view of the world, and resistance to new experience. Individuals believe that the authorities should be obeyed because they are in the best position to know what is good for the country. This is again linked to inter-group bias, where certain groups are believed to have a higher status than others.
pg. 221.
Instead, one must admit that it is beneficial to observe an American political bias from a UK perspective. Honestly, I may struggle with putting it into words, but reading this chapter will provide a much better understanding of current American politics.
Bring bias home? I think not.
So, think beyond yourself when reading Sway. For example, I will not permit unconscious bias against my daughter’s ability to embrace STEM as an educational career:
In 2017, less than 30 per cent of applications in UK universities to economics, computer science, mathematics and natural sciences – subjects typically seen as male-dominated – were from women. For computer science alone, the proportion of students gaining a good honours degree is significantly higher for male students than female students over the last 10 years, giving the perception that men are better at such technical subjects. These statistics can deter women from applying to this course, giving them the perception that they do not belong there.
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Training for bias?
In conclusion, Sway is an important book addressing unconscious bias. I am certainly only dabbing at the icing on the cake. My review could certainly be filled with many impactful quotes. Do not overlook Sway in seeking to learn about your own unconscious bias.