House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement
Unconscious Bias Training
15 December 2020 · Cabinet Office
Proposed by Julia Lopez Con Hornchurch and Upminster
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
At a glance
Key points
- Government concludes unconscious bias training is ineffective in achieving its aims
- Civil Service will phase out unconscious bias training
- New inclusion and diversity strategy to be published in the new year
Issue summary
The government is addressing the effectiveness of unconscious bias training in the workplace.
Action requested
Ministers conclude that unconscious bias training does not achieve its intended aims and will phase it out in the Civil Service, encouraging other public sector employers to do likewise. The new strategy integrating principles for inclusion and diversity into core training will be published in the new year.
Key facts
- Unconscious bias training has no evidence of changing behaviour long term or improving workplace equality.
- There is emerging evidence of unintended negative consequences from such training.
- A systematic review involving over 87,000 participants found no association between changes to unconscious bias measures and changes in behaviour.
- The Civil Service will phase out unconscious bias training by January 2020.
- A new strategy integrating principles for inclusion and diversity into mainstream core training modules will be published in the new year.
▸
Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy