University of Luxembourg researchers have put their minds together and appear to have found a solution to “Overcoming bias in decision making”.

The research, funded by a grant from the National Research Fund (FNR), recognised that teachers, regardless of the level of experience, can be susceptible to involuntary prejudice against students based on the pupil’s ethnicity. The research team discovered that by reminding teachers that they were accountable for their decisions the involuntary actions could be avoided.

International studies, such as the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, have shown that minority groups tend to perform below average in class and that when teachers are exposed to this every day, sooner or later they begin to develop biases. A good example in Luxembourg would be the local secondary school system, whereby certain students are wrongfully assigned to secondary schools with less academically-challenging curriculae based on predispositions determined through their ethnicity. The Portuguese are the largest ethnic minority in Luxembourg and the group which tends to have lower than average levels of academic achievement.

In the study, teachers were given fictitious student reports and profiles and asked to assign them to an appropriate secondary school. The teachers assigned 90% of the Luxembourgish students correctly but only managed to assign 67% of the Portuguese students accurately. After answering questions on how accurately they think they assigned the students, the teachers were given more fictitious student reports and this time would accurately assign students.

Dr Ineke Pit-ten Cate, a member of the research team noted that “asking teachers to assess their responsibility for their performance appeared to trigger a more reflective approach to their decision making. This study suggests that when we make important choices we should strive to invest mental effort to reduce errors related to involuntary bias.”

Photo of Dr Ineke Pit-ten Cate taken by Michel Brumat / University of Luxembourg