When Unconscious Bias Gets Shocked by Reality

A while ago I shared a TED Talk with a colleague on our unconscious biases. In that TED Talk, Verna Myers suggested some tactics for confronting your own biases. In a very candid moment, the admitted that she found an unconscious bias of her own – one that valued women less than men. She said:

I mean, not too long ago, I was on a plane and I heard the voice of a woman pilot coming over the P.A. system, and I was just so excited, so thrilled. I was like, "Yes, women, we are rocking it. We are now in the stratosphere." It was all good, and then it started getting turbulent and bumpy, and I was like, "I hope she can drive." (Laughter) I know. Right. But it's not even like I knew that was a bias until I was coming back on the other leg and there's always a guy driving and it's often turbulent and bumpy, and I've never questioned the confidence of the male driver. The pilot is good. Now, here's the problem. If you ask me explicitly, I would say, "Female pilot: awesome." But it appears that when things get funky and a little troublesome, a little risky, I lean on a bias that I didn't even know that I had. You know, fast-moving planes in the sky, I want a guy. That's my default. Men are my default. Who is your default? Who do you trust? Who are you afraid of? Who do you implicitly feel connected to? Who do you run away from?

I found this talk fascinating because I’ve listened to a number of speakers on unconscious bias and they usually make me feel like they think I’m a horrible person. Ms. Myers talked about unconscious bias with a call to action for people to recognize and overcome their own biases. But then she paused and started talking about denial. She described how she called out attendees at her lectures as being in denial. She said she knew they were, because she was too. And then she related the above story. Bringing her personal bias to the forefront got my attention and made me think. I probably wouldn’t have shared this TED Talk with my colleague without that story.

I found myself thinking of this story yesterday as I listened to the news of the tragic Southwest Airlines incident. I was clicking through links and listened to the pilot and tower conversations. As an emergency manager and first responder I was immediately struck by the calm nature of the conversation. Her engine had just exploded, a passenger was sucked out (although we find out later she was pulled back in), there was a hole in the side of the plane, and the oxygen masks had dropped. Not an easy situation to remain calm. But this pilot did. And she flew the plane. And she landed the plane. A landing that required tremendous skill. As tragic as this incident was, having a calm professional at the wheel kept this from being a catastrophe. I’m sure that the pilot will tell you that she didn’t do this alone, she had a great co-pilot and a great flight crew that provided her with information and kept the passengers as calm as possible. This doesn’t negate what a great job she did.

More details have come forth about the pilot. The Washington Post headline said she has “Nerves of steel…” Mashable called her a "certifiable badass" before this landing. We learn from the articles that she was one of the Navy’s first female fighter pilots and a Navy flight instructor before joining Southwest. No one boarding the plane that day had any reason to know the credentials of this pilot.

Thinking of this incident and Verna Myers talk about her unconscious bias, I’m left wondering how many people boarded that plane with a similar unconscious bias. Thoughts in the recesses of their minds asking whether they were in good hands with a female pilot. And I wonder how many passengers left that plane yesterday ecstatic that this woman was their pilot. Will this change any of their unconscious biases? Will they no longer question whether a female is as good as a male flying an airplane?

I wonder if this will help Verna Myers reconcile and walk boldly past the unconscious bias she discussed. Perhaps we can all accept Ms. Myers’ challenge and address our own unconscious biases.