The Implicit Association Test (IAT) has become an increasingly popular method to make people aware of their unconscious biases, especially on diversity and inclusion (D&I) issues within companies. However, the literature researching whether this is an effective method, is limited. The aim of this research is therefore, to create a design for companies to assess whether the IAT can be used to create awareness for D&I, within their organization. The research question central in this study is: Does completing an IAT on discrimination have an effect on a person’s awareness and behavior towards D&I? A newly developed design was tested as a pilot at Microsoft the Netherlands. The data generated from this design is then analyzed in three ways: overall analysis, single question analyses and principal factor analysis. In this pilot experiment, all three analyses methods showed no significant difference in awareness related to D&I between the subjects that took the IAT, compared to the subjects that did not. Nevertheless, the results are subject to a low sample size and sample variety. As a result, the contribution of this paper is the design of the conducted pilot experiment, and a proposed quantitative analysis for the gathered data.

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A. Baillon
hdl.handle.net/2105/49496
Business Economics
Erasmus School of Economics

I. Patist. (2019, November 8). The implicit association test – A method to create awareness on diversity and inclusion?. Business Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/49496