50 Ways to Fight Bias

An activity that helps you combat the biases women face at work.

Why fighting bias matters

One year into the pandemic, we’re in a moment of crisis for women. Millions of women have been driven out of the workforce by Covid-19. Many more are struggling with burnout and considering downshifting their careers or leaving their jobs.

To avoid unwinding years of progress toward gender equality, companies need to act now to promote, hire, and retain women. Combating the biases women face at work is critical to getting this right. Research shows that bias contributes to women being passed over for jobs and promotions. Almost three in four women experience bias at work, and those who do are more likely to leave their jobs. And women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities face more acute biases. Yet only one in three employees, including managers, challenges biased behavior when they see it.

Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough. We need to take action—and Lean In’s 50 Ways to Fight Bias program can help.

50 Ways to Fight Bias is a free digital program to empower all employees to identify and challenge bias head on. The program is optimized for virtual workshops and consists of two parts: a short video that explains the most common types of biases that women face and a digital card activity where small groups of participants discuss specific examples of bias, brainstorm solutions together, and learn research-backed recommendations for what to do. The digital cards highlight almost 100 instances of workplace bias, including the compounding biases women experience because of their race, sexual orientation, disability, or other aspects of their identity.

50 Ways to Fight Bias has been used by thousands of organizations, including Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, and the Wharton MBA Program. And it works: 95% of program participants are more committed to challenging bias, and 96% of managers feel better equipped to talk about bias with their teams.

To get started, explore our complete digital program or download our Quick-Start Guide to run an introductory session.

Explore the digital program

Back of card: What to do - try asking, “Why do you think hiring women would lower the bar?” Restating their words may prompt your colleague to rethink their assumption. You can also explain why it matters. Longer term, push your company to use standardized hiring criteria.197 That way, the bar will be set before the hiring process begins, so all candidates will be evaluated against it and the notion that “we lowered the bar” is likely to fade.

Front of card: Situation - over lunch, your colleague says, “It’d be great to hire more women, but I worry about lowering our bar.”

Back of card: What to do - when a woman gets interrupted, speak up. You might say, I'd like to hear the rest of her thoughts, or she raised an important point. I'd like to consider it further before we move on.

Front of card: Situation - you're in a meeting and a woman colleague is spoken over or interrupted.

Back of card: What to do - What to do – Speak up. Say you’d like to hear your coworker’s point of view, and push back on the suggestion that she’s too emotional or irrational. You could say, “[Name] doesn’t seem heated to me. I think she’s making some really great points. [Name], can you go on?”

Front of card: 'Situation - In a meeting, someone says to a Latina, “I can see you’re getting fired up,” when she has been speaking firmly but calmly.'

Back of card: What to do - If you feel comfortable, you could raise the question directly in the meeting: “Do we set these goals for women of color?” You could also speak to your manager or HR team afterward about the importance of setting goals that combine gender and race.

Front of card: 'Situation - At an all-staff meeting, your company’s leaders share concrete goals for hiring, promoting, and retaining women, but it’s clear they haven’t set goals for women of color specifically.'

Back of card: Solution - Tell your coworker WHY IT MATTERS. You can also talk to HR and ask them to clarify your company’s general policies on flexible work, so that people are less likely to view specific situations as unfair.

Front of card: 'Situation - In a private conversation, a coworker expresses resentment about “special treatment” for a woman with a disability who is allowed to work flexible hours. '

Back of card: Solution - If communication skills aren’t key to this promotion—for example, it’s a technical or internal-facing role—say so. If communication skills are important, ask for examples of how she can improve and suggest sharing the feedback directly with her. If your colleague can’t offer good examples, push back. You could explain that vague feedback can open the door to bias and say you’re concerned that this woman is being unfairly judged for no good reason.

Front of card: Situation - In a meeting about promotions, someone says an Asian coworker needs to work on her communication skills before she’s ready for the next level

Back of card: Solution - Email Beth and say you’re sorry this happened. Ask if she’d like you to send out a correction. For example, you could send a follow-up email to the group saying, “Our coworker made a mistake. She meant to introduce you to Beth.” That way, Beth could be known by her true name without having to come out herself via email. Then, speak privately to your other colleague. Explain WHY IT MATTERS and encourage them to apologize to Beth. This could help to repair any hurt she experienced from being deadnamed.

Front of card: Situation - In a group email, your coworker introduces a transgender colleague named Beth by her former name, Brian.

Back of card: Solution - Speak up in the moment by saying, "I'm happy to have a meeting, but I want to mention one thing. You might not know this, but the word ‘powwow’ has real meaning to Native Americans. It doesn’t simply mean a meeting.” You can also explain WHY IT MATTERS. Or you could ask, “Are you trying to say you want to have a meeting?” This can prompt your manager to reflect on their language choice.

Front of card: Situation - Your manager suggests having a “powwow.”

Developed in collaboration with experts and partner organizations including Stanford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, Executive Leadership Council, Minda Harts, National Urban League, Paradigm, UnidosUS, and many more.

What makes 50 Ways to Fight Bias effective

Specific and interactive:

The program is rooted in very specific examples of workplace bias because research shows bias training is more effective when it's tied to realistic and familiar situations, as opposed to more general concepts.

Rooted in intersectional research:

Grounded in decades of research and developed in collaboration with experts on how bias based on gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, and religion impacts people's experiences at work.

Tailored to suit your organization’s needs:

You can choose from one of 12 sets of digital cards curated for different audiences and workplace interactions—for example, we offer a set for managers and a set focused on bias in hiring and promotions.

Designed to engage men:

Many bias trainings leave men feeling attacked or alienated. 50 Ways is designed to help men play a meaningful role in identifying and combating bias.

Bring it to your company

How it works

50 Ways is optimized for virtual workshops where participants learn about bias, discuss specific examples, and get expert recommendations on what to do. Here’s how the program works in a few simple steps—and you can explore our digital program to learn more.

Set the tone

All 50 Ways workshops begin by level setting with participants on how to encourage an open and respectful discussion.

Introduction to bias

Participants watch a short video that explains the most common types of biases that women face as well as the concept of intersectionality—how women can experience compounding biases due to other aspects of their identity.

Watch the 50 Ways video

Group activity

Before the workshop, the moderator selects the set of digital cards that will resonate with participants. In the session, participants break into small groups to go through the cards together. On each card, they’re introduced to a specific example of bias—and why it matters.
They take a few minutes to discuss the situation and brainstorm solutions for interrupting the bias. They then learn what experts recommend they do in that situation, along with a short explanation of what's behind the bias.

Explore the 50 Ways digital cards

Commit to action

As the activity wraps up, participants commit to take One Action to fight bias based on what they’ve learned.

We would like to thank our partners for their expert contributions to the situations and recommendations featured in 50 Ways to Fight Bias.

Bringing 50 Ways and Lean In Circles to your company

Case Study

50 Ways to Fight Bias

Why fighting bias matters