Unconscious bias training is being scrapped for civil servants in England, as the government believes there is “no evidence” the training remedies alleged inequality.
A statement from Cabinet Office minister Julia Lopez notes how the training “does not achieve its intended aims,” and will “therefore be phased out in the civil service.”
“We encourage other public sector employers to do likewise,” she urged.
The Government Equalities Office released a similar statement, emphasizing there has been “no evidence” that unconscious bias training improves workplace equality.
Among the researchers cited by the body is psychologist Patrick Forscher, who examined over 400 studies on unconscious bias. He felt that of the few studies that measured changes over time, among “the most robust of those that did,” the “changes in implicit bias don’t last.”
