11/20/2022 0 Comments Zoom msuIt’s unlikely that in face-to-face meetings, participants be seated in front a wall of family photos. Be conscious about what your “virtual environment” might symbolize. “Meeting hosts need to prepare follow-up questions, like whether participants know anyone going through this crisis alone,” Viveiros said. Instead of opening with the typical “tell us what your lives are like during shelter in place,” consider framing a question around what participants are noticing about communities around them. “This can be done by acknowledging that there are a range of diverse experiences of participants and by establishing conversational norms that respect these differences,” Bonomi said.Īpproach conversations with sensitivity to differences. Using inclusive language validates participants’ diversity of experiences, including participants whose lives may be unduly affected by the novel coronavirus. The researchers offer tips on how to mitigate unconscious bias and improve inclusivity. Yet, when several participants clarified that they were persons of color, the facilitator said, “I mean someone who can speak eloquently about this topic.” Microaggressions are brief, commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative slights related to race and other identity points.įor example, during a recent virtual meeting, the white facilitator lamented that there weren’t any diverse people to help with an analysis. For example, afterwards Viveiros learned that asking about “fun family things” prevented several Latinx attendees from sharing their experiences of losing family members and community members to novel coronavirus.Īdditionally, microaggressions are also communicated in virtual meetings just as they are in face-to-face meetings, Bonomi said. While these experiences are valid and we celebrated them, Viveiros said that the way the ice breaker question was phrased unintentionally crowded out the experiences of people with minoritized social identities. “In a recent videoconference, we were asked the ‘most fun thing you’ve done with your family during quarantine.’ Participant answers ranged from ‘gardening with my husband’ to ‘dance parties with my family,’” Viveiros said. In fact, even a simple icebreaker - common for videoconferencing settings -can be a pathway for uninentionally reinforcing dominant social norms and identities. “For example, when the virtual background of a Zoom meeting attendee has pictures of his or her wedding, it unintentionally reinforces the idea that marriage is most fitting between opposite sexes.” “Unconscious bias can intersect with language, symbolism and nonverbal cues that reinforce normative social identities with respect to gender, race, sexual preference and socioeconomic status,” Bonomi said. These can be related to gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etcetera. While employees use videoconferencing now more than ever, there’s an issue happening beneath the surface with platforms like Zoom, Teams and Skype beyond stress and mental health that’s affecting its users.Īmy Bonomi, a social science researcher from Michigan State University, and Nelia Viveiros from University of Colorado, said that these platforms are a ripe setting for unconscious bias - or, attitudes towards people or associated stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge.
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