Pragya Agarwal

Sway

Unravelling Unconscious Bias

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Uncovers the science behind our "unintentional" biases using real world stories underpinned by scientific theories and research. Experiments have shown that our brains categorize people by race in less than one-tenth of a second, about 50 milliseconds before determining sex. This means that we are labeling people by race and associating certain characteristics to them without even hearing them speak or getting to know them. This subtle cognitive process starts in the amygdala, the area of the brain associated with strong emotions. Does this mean that unconscious biases are hardwired into our brains as an evolutionary response, or do they emerge from assimilating information that we see around us? In Sway, author Pragya Agarwal uncovers the science behind our "unintentional" biases. Using real world stories underpinned by scientific theories and research, this book unravels the way our unconscious biases are affecting the way we communicate, make decisions and perceive the world. A wide range of implicit biases are covered, including left-handedness, age-ism, sexism and aversive racism, and by using research and theories from a wide range of disciplines, including social science, psychology, biology and neuroscience, readers learn how these biases manifest and whether there is anything we can do about them. Beginning with an introduction to what unconscious bias actually is, each chapter answers questions such as: -Do our roots for prejudice lie in our evolutionary past? -What happens in our brains when our biases are activated? -How has bias affected technology? -Can we ever completely get rid of unconscious bias? At a time when race politics, the gender pay gap and diversity and inclusivity in the workplace are dominating our conversations, understanding how unconscious bias functions within all of us is more important than ever. The book encourages readers to think, understand and evaluate their own biases in a scientific and non-judgmental way.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Academic
• Seitenzahl: 448
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Juni 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 220mm x 139mm x 39mm
• Gewicht: 584g
• ISBN-13: 9781472971357
• ISBN-10: 1472971353
• Artikelnr.: 57016251

Autorenporträt

Dr Pragya Agarwal is a behavioural scientist, with expertise in cognition, HCI and User-centred Design, focussed especially in diversity and inclusivity. She was a senior academic for over 12 years at US and UK Universities, and held the prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship, following a PhD from the University of Nottingham. Pragya has published numerous scientific articles and books, some of which are on the reading list for leading courses around the world. As a freelance writer, she regularly writes thought pieces on racial and gender bias for The Guardian, Times Higher Education, Forbes, Prospect, Independent, Metro, Huffington Post and various other publications. Pragya is a two-time TEDx speaker, and was named as one of the 100 influential women in social enterprise in the UK, and one of 50 people creating change in the UK-India corridor on the High and Mighty list. She has been invited to give keynote talks and workshops around the world, and has appeared on several international podcasts, radio and television channels, such as BBC Woman's Hour, BBC Breakfast, Radio 5 Live, BBC Merseyside, Australian Broadcasting Service, and Canadian Radio. She organised the first ever TEDxWoman event in the north of the country, and has a podcast called 'Outside the Boxes'. She can be found on twitter as @DrPragyaAgarwal

Rezensionen

Agarwal's diagnosis of the political harms of bias is passionate and urgent. Guardian, Book of the Week