Wednesday, February 24, 2016 | 2-3:30 p.m. (EST) Approximately one in five Ohio high school students reported having some kind of disability. Even so, very little is known about the experiences of these students and the ways in which their ability status impacts their life experiences. Still, even less is known about the ways in which … Continue reading »

Aired on PBS NewsHour Following two years of highly publicized deadly shootings by police officers, some police departments around the country are looking into new training methods they hope will not only reduce the number of officer-involved shootings, but also keep their officers in the field safer. NewsHour Special Correspondent Chris Bury reports.

The consequences of both this excessive criminalizing of children and the racial bias in harsh punishments are extreme. The Kirwan Institute cites studies showing that a single suspension in the first year of high school doubles the dropout chance for that child. Children who experience expulsions are three times more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system.

The Board of State and Community Corrections of California (BSCC) has listed Kirwan Institute’s 2015 Implicit Bias Review as an important resource in reducing racial disparities. Their initiative is to create an equitable juvenile justice system. The BSCC is said to be committed to reducing racial and ethnic disparity across the justice system through a multi-faceted approach. … Continue reading »

Featured on ThinkProgress by Sam P. Collins, The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, based at [Ohio State University], says that implicit bias — also known as “implicit social cognition” — affects people of all walks of life, even Americans who hold positions that require impartiality. It often thrives on the influence of early life experiences, … Continue reading »

Featured on Sojourners by Lisa Sharon Harper, A 2014 REPORT from the Kirwan Institute identifies a few key things we can do to dismantle the craziness. Here are four: 1. Take the free Harvard Implicit Association Test online. 2. Grow your empathy. Seriously listen to the stories of people who are not white. Read what they write. … Continue reading »

MTV has launched a social justice campaign that aims to prompt young people to combat “hidden racial, gender and anti-LGBT bias” through a “seven-day racial bias cleanse.” The cleanse call to action is one part of the “Look Different” campaign launched by MTV; another aspect is a controversial new white privilege documentary MTV is slated to air soon. … Continue reading »

Featured on WYSO Ohio The national study by the advocacy group Women Donors Network found 95 percent of the country’s elected prosecutors are white and 80 percent male. Ohio is no different. All of Ohio’s 88 county prosecutors are white, just 12 of those are women. “Something is definitely askew when you look at these … Continue reading »

Next City The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Fair Housing Act in late June was seen by many as an acknowledgement of how racial discrimination continues to affect real estate — whether intentional or not. And from why police make arrests to how bosses review employees, unconscious (or implicit) bias has a widespread effect on … Continue reading »

Columbus Dispatch  Black students are three times more likely to be expelled from school than white students, according to a report by the United Way of Central Ohio. The 2015 Champion of Children report, discussed at the Columbus Metropolitan Club on Wednesday afternoon, was compiled by the United Way, Community Research Partners and the Kirwan … Continue reading »

Raleigh News & Observer Implicit bias is a trending term of art in discussions of race relations. Attention to the concept has followed events in Ferguson, Staten Island and now McKinney, Texas. In plain words, implicit bias is an unconscious prejudice, an involuntary attitude or stereotype. According to the Kirwan Institute for the Study of … Continue reading »

Christian Science Monitor Dealing with such division means finding ways to promote more contact among groups, says Robin Wright, a research associate at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University in Columbus. Living in a homogeneous community “allows your biases to go on unnoticed, and so when you … Continue reading »

Center for American Progress Sam Fullwood III Much has been written on the effects of implicit bias and how the often-unconscious attitudes and beliefs that nearly all of us hold foster our comprehension of race, gender, class, ethnicity, and a host of other social constructs. The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the … Continue reading »

Center for American Progress For some time now, I’ve been aware of Project Implicit. The university-led collaborative administers web-based tests that purport to reveal whether a person is unknowingly biased about a wide range of issues. The ongoing study was started in 1998 by three social scientists, Tony Greenwald of the University of Washington, Mahzarin … Continue reading »

Cleveland Plain Dealer Implicit bias manifests in subconscious assumptions — good or bad — people automatically make about someone based on their race or ethnicity, according to the Kirwan Institute of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. In a law enforcement sense, those biases could lead to racial profiling. “Those kinds of encounters can … Continue reading »

The Huffington Post Freeman addresses these questions, and many others, by featuring the thoughts and opinions of scientists who are working to unlock those subconscious links within all of us that determine our decision-making processes. Scientific research — such as that conducted by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity — may … Continue reading »

AirTalk: KPCC (Southern California Public Radio) Attorney General Kamala Harris on Friday released the results of an internal California Department of Justice review looking at implicit bias and use of force in its special agent training programs. She also announced the development of an implicit bias training program for law enforcement in the state, the … Continue reading »

The Cap Times (Wisconsin State Journal) The recent U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the Ferguson Police Department revealed broad and systemic racism there. Dane County received its version of an investigation in 2013: the Race to Equity report, released by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. The Race to Equity report showed that … Continue reading »

FiveThirtyEight ESPN Comey quoted “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” a song from the Broadway hit “Avenue Q.” Social science research generally finds the musical – and Comey – is right. The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University publishes an annual “Implicit Bias Review” that collects research on unconscious … Continue reading »

International Business Times Black schoolchildren are disciplined more harshly than white students for similar offenses. Nationwide, one in five black males and more than one in 10 black females were suspended in 2009 and 2010, more than any other race, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection. Other research has shown … Continue reading »

Featured in Pioneer Press This social and neuroscience phenomenon, as described by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University, “refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.” It adds: “The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us … Continue reading »

St. Paul Pioneer Press I have a theory that also may partly explain my experience back home: Lollie was a victim of implicit bias if not contempt of cop. This social and neuroscience phenomenon, as described by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University, “refers to the attitudes … Continue reading »

LISTEN TO SHARON DAVIES COMMENTARY ON WOSU’S ALL SIDES “. . . the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs.”  –W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk   The nation’s focus on the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in  Ferguson, Missouri confers yet another opportunity … Continue reading »

Sharon Davies talks about creating safe and supportive schools at the Albert Shanker Institute.

Al Jazeera Yet years of brain research tells us that much bias is actually unconscious — known as implicit bias — and perpetuated in hidden ways that are often enabled by seemingly race-neutral choices. A 2012 study used patient vignettes to examine the role of implicit bias among pediatricians. Those doctors with higher levels of … Continue reading »

Alarming disparities in the application of school discipline policies exist nationwide between African American, Latino and White students. A “2009-2010 survey of 72,000 schools (K-12) shows that while Black students make up only 18 percent of those enrolled in the schools sampled, they accounted for 35 percent of those suspended once, 46 percent of those … Continue reading »

Download the Kirwan Institute Issue Brief:Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline: Implicit Bias is Heavily Implicated (PDF) Research shows that African American students, and especially African American boys, are disciplined more often and receive more out-of-school suspensions and expulsions than White students. Perhaps more alarming is the 2010 finding that over 70% of the students involved … Continue reading »

Discussion of the George Zimmerman verdict has been rampant in both the public and private spheres since jurors rendered the divisive decision in mid-July. Zimmerman’s acquittal of all charges in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has sparked conversations on a plethora of sensitive topics, including Stand Your Ground laws, the current status of race relations in the United States, and what it means to live at the precarious identity intersection of being Black and male in a society that asserts itself to be “post-racial” despite ample evidence to the contrary.

MSNBC’s Craig Melvin was joined by Phillip Atiba Goff, Sharon Davies, Alexis McGill-Johnson and john powell for a plenary on implicit bias, racial healing and racial equity at the 2013 America Healing Conference.