Events

From unconscious bias to inclusive work groups

Workgroup diversity can be strength leading to increased learning, innovations and engagement. Diversity can however also be a source of challenges and lead to diminished levels of trust, exclusion and experiences of inequality. How diversity affects workgroups depends on the leadership practices, the organizational culture as well as the quality of the everyday interactions among colleagues.
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Online
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Event language(s)

English
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Course description

The aim of this training is to enhance the participants’ capability to identify and impact the effects of diversity on their workgroups. The training will give answers to the following questions:

   - What is diversity and why is it important for our organization?
   - What is unconscious bias, and how can we minimize the effects of bias?
   - What leads to inclusion, and what can we do to become more inclusive?

The training consists of two sessions. Participation in both sessions is recommended, but not a must. Each session is composed of lectures, individual and group work. At the end of the training participants will have designed practical tools adapted to their work situation for reducing bias and increasing inclusion.

Session 1:  Seeing diversity, blocking bias, 7.1.2021

In this session we will focus on the strengths of diversity in work-life and on one of the main barriers for diversity to become reality: unconscious bias. Through group exercises and discussions you will identify the existing strengths and potential of diversity in your own work context, and increase your awareness of unconscious biases. We will examine how unconscious biases impact in work situations and plan easily implementable interventions to block biases from influencing you, your decision making and your work.

After this session you will have answers to the following questions:

  •    What is diversity in work?
  •    Does diversity impact academic work, and if so, how?
  •    What is unconscious bias?
  •    Am I biased? And if so, what can I do?

Session 2: Inclusive teams, colleagues as allies 28.1.2021

In this session we will focus on the condition under which diverse teams perform at their best: inclusive culture. We will identify the main elements of inclusion and map concrete behaviours and interactions fostering inclusion. Through group exercises and discussions we will also identify the workplace interactions that challenge inclusion and test ways of intervening to break those negative dynamics. We will identify our own privileges and discuss allyship: what does it mean to be an effective ally and how can I become one?

After this session you will have answers to the following questions:

  • What makes a team inclusive? What can I do to increase inclusion in my teams?
  • What are the dynamics I should spot and challenge? How should I intervene when I see non-inclusive behavior?
  • Am I privileged? And what should I do about it?
  • What is allyship? How can I become a better ally?

Schedule

 Thursday 7th of January 2021, 9.00-13.00

 Thursday 28th of January 2021, 09.00-13.00

You can attend both, or just one of the trainings. Enrollment for the session on Jan 28th; please send an email to [email protected] 

Participants

  • The course is open for all Aalto employees.

Instructor

  • Jonna Louvrier, PhD, Founder & CEO at Includia Leadership

Jonna Louvrier holds a Ph.D from Hanken, the department of Management and Organization. From 2014 to 2016 she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, the Clayman Institute for Gender Research. She has also worked as a researcher at Hanken, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France, and the Center for Creative Leadership.

Enrollment ​

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