Skip to main content

Individual Course

Outsmarting Implicit Bias

thumbnail

Course Length

3 weeks

1–2 hours per week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences LogoHarvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Certificate Price:

$ 550

Apply by Sep 15, 2025

Apply Now

Certificate Price:

$ 550

Apply by Sep 15, 2025

Apply Now

Designed for individuals and teams, this Harvard Online course taught by preeminent Harvard Professor Mahzarin Banaji teaches the science of implicit bias and strategies to counter the impact of bias in the workplace.

Do we really understand what goes into our decision-making process at the office and at home?

The last fifty years of research in experimental psychology has shown that we may not understand our minds as well as we think we do; however, we can reveal a world of hidden thoughts when we observe our minds through the science of implicit bias.

Implicit bias refers to judgments made without conscious awareness about a person. Developed and taught by Harvard Professor Mahzarin Banaji, this course begins with the premise that implicit bias is a feature of all human minds. The first step to recognizing the impact of bias and making better decisions at work is a willingness to examine your own thoughts and behaviors with scientific curiosity.

In this interactive course, you will experience the way your mind works, how it influences your decisions, and how you can outsmart it to overcome implicit bias.

Instructor-Paced

Harvard Online

Industries:

  • Consulting
  • Financial Services
  • Technology
  • Health Care
  • Kimberly C.
  • Sergio Q.
  • Leticia C.

Harvard Case Method Premium Learning

Upgrade Your Skills

Identify and Understand Implicit Bias

Examine how cognitive biases form and impact your perceptions and decisions. Recognize where and how bias influences workplace processes, including recruitment and evaluation.

Upgrade Your Skills

Apply Strategies to Reduce Bias in Practice

Use tools like the Implicit Association Test to uncover hidden biases. Implement evidence-based techniques to outsmart bias during meetings, hiring, and daily interactions.

Upgrade Your Skills

Create a Culture of Better Decision-Making

Develop approaches to embed fairness and objectivity into organizational processes. Learn from industry leaders’ success stories on sustaining change and promoting better decision making.

  • Learn from real case studies
  • Do it on your own time
  • Get a certificate, add it to your resume
  • Be part of the Harvard Community
Data Science for Business values

Syllabus

Designed for individuals and teams in any organization, this Harvard Online course, taught by preeminent Harvard Professor Mahzarin Banaji, explores the science underlying implicit bias to allow better decisions in life and at work.

Download Full Syllabus

Faculty

Industry Experts

Your Instructor

Mahzarin Banaji

Mahzarin Banaji , PhD, is the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Professor Banaji is an experimental psychologist who co-developed the concept of “implicit bias” nearly 30 years ago and co-authored the New York Times best-selling book Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. She is the recipient of seven honorary degrees, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Golden Goose Award from the United States Congress, the Morton Deutsch Award for Social Justice, and the Atkinson Prize from the National Academy of Sciences. Her lifetime contributions have been recognized by APA’s Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution, and APS’s William James Fellow Award for “a lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology”, the Cattell Fellow Award for “a lifetime of applied psychological research” and the Mentor Award. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Industry Expert

Shelly McNamara

Learn from Shelly's experience as Chief Equality and Inclusion Officer at Procter and Gamble and how she has improved business outcomes through addressing bias in the workplace.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Industry Expert

Robert Lowe

Boston University Chief of Police Robert Lowe shares how awareness of implicit biases has changed his office's approach to their work.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Industry Expert

Mike Fenlon

PwC's former Chief People Officer and Chief Future of Work Officer, shares how he worked with colleagues through his entire career to detect and outsmart blindspots in academia and in workplaces.

Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

I have walked away with a transformative learning experience that will positively impact my professional work to move employers towards more inclusive hiring practices for immigrant and refugee talent and how I show up as a manager of my team.
Kimberly C.
Director of Employer Engagement
This course has completely changed my thinking. It has taught me that our decision-making process can always improve by identifying information that was previously considered irrelevant, as well as recognizing biases that we have ingrained since conception. Now, any decision I make will be more analytical and objective, both in my workplace and in my personal life.
Sergio Q.
The content was truly engaging and presented in a very dynamic way. It created a positive impact on me since it made me reflect thoroughly about how I navigate myself at work, since my day-to-day involves interactions with a very multicultural community.
Leticia C.
I would recommend the course of Outsmarting Implicit Bias to each of my family friend, professional and social colleagues to take up this role as it provides a key to open the lock of how our Minds work. In our day to day jobs, we somehow neglect to realize the impact of Pause and Rational Data based decisions. We somehow fail to realize the impact of the loss that we can incur due to our Intuitive decision making without understanding the impact of biases. IAT certainly came in as an Eye Opener for me and can help everyone in their journey to realize, accept and acknowledge first about their possible Implicit biases.
Nachiket D.

Upskill your team

Learn more about our learning solutions

Engaging learning experiences and high-quality online content that can be delivered at scale

Solutions that focus on today’s in-demand skill areas to help attract, retain and future-proof your workforce

A variety of formats, from long-form courses that replicate an on-campus classroom experience to short-form content

Interaction with a global community of learners and leaders looking to develop their workforce, grow their business, and change the world

Contact Our Team

Past Participant Discounts

Learners who have enrolled in at least one qualifying Harvard Online program receive a 30% discount on this course. Select Past Participant Discounts are automatically applied to the Program Fee upon time of payment.

Learners who have earned a verified certificate for a HarvardX course hosted on the edX platform are eligible to receive a 30% discount on this course using a discount code. Discounts are not available after you've submitted payment, so if you think you are eligible for a discount on a registration, please check your email for a code or contact us.

Nonprofit, Government, Military, and Education Discounts

Eligibility is determined by a prospective learner’s email address, ending in .org, .gov, .mil, or .edu. Interested learners can apply below for the discount and, if eligible, will receive a promo code to enter when completing payment information to enroll in a Harvard Online program.

Apply for Discount

Stay tuned for more

FAQs

Related Blogs