Understanding Cultural Bias: 3 Examples of Cultural Bias

3 Examples of Cultural Bias

Cultural bias is pervasive in our everyday lives. Here are a few examples of cultural bias:

1. At the workplace. Cultural biases in the hiring process may lead to less racial or cultural diversity in the workplace. Hiring managers seek to eliminate cultural biases in a number of ways, including hiding names or pictures from resumes (making them anonymous) and using diverse interview panels.
2. In public. Some cultures perceive certain hand gestures or prolonged eye contact as a sign of disrespect, whereas other cultures may assume that those who do not shake hands or look into someone's eyes are being rude or evasive. The assumption that one set of norms is correct may lead to cultural bias when interacting with people from a different culture.
3. At school. In the United States specifically, cultural bias in schooling might lead educators to assume that all students have had the same education, and thus can be judged by the same educational standards (like with standardized testing). This type of bias does not take into account other factors like poverty, accessibility, or language ability.