What is IncludeU

IncludeU is a program developed by a team of faculty at the University of New Hampshire who have conducted the research and developed a course to help faculty learn how to intervene when they witness bias incidents in the academic workplace.  

Our mission is to contribute to the inclusiveness of academic workplaces by providing a convenient and interesting way for faculty to learn about how cognitive processes that help us navigate daily life can sometimes lead us to make erroneous  biased assumptions about people based on stereotypes.  We demonstrate how faculty at various levels of influence can intervene when such bias incidents occur without taking undue career risks.  

Bias incidents happen when we apply stereotypical assumptions about groups to individual members of those groups, often to the detriment of those individuals. Research has shown that:

• bias incidents have a negative impact on workplace climate and job satisfaction not only for the targets of bias, but also bystanders who witness the incident, and that they often results in faculty wanting to quit their jobs;
• most faculty members report having witnessed at least one bias incident in the past year;
• when faculty witnesses to bias incidents step in to intervene on behalf of the target, the negative impact of the bias incident is greatly reduced; and
• there are many ways to intervene, some more risky than others. 

One of the biggest hurdles universities face in improving the climate for diversity on campus is that everyone is already so busy dealing with multiple crises. Faculty are being asked to turn on a dime in the way they teach their courses and how and where they do their research. For many, the last thing on their list is attending a training on diversity and inclusion. But the need to make our campuses more welcoming for students and faculty of all backgrounds is increasingly urgent.  

We have developed a convenient, research-based bias intervention course that faculty can take at any time, in any place, on any device, and in short segments. The course:

• explains cognitive processes that lead to biases and how we all have them;
• includes relevant examples of how bias occurs where faculty are evaluating applicants for positions and promotion and tenure, and where they interact in general faculty meetings and in the hallway;
• demonstrates how to intervene to mitigate the negative effect of bias and start to reduce its frequency in the academic workplace.
• is engaging and effective as a basic course on bias awareness and intervention for faculty who are new to the topic and as an integral piece of a larger toolkit for more advanced professional development programs.