Texas State Bar Implicit Bias Training

The primary justification for rejection of mandatory implicit bias training for Texas lawyers was that making the training mandatory would not be well-received. President-elect Sylvia Borunda Firth said that it would be better to create an incentive, or “a carrot, rather than a stick,” that would make attorneys want to take implicit bias training.

Studies have shown that implicit bias training is in fact effective in the creating an awareness of and a reduction in implicit preferences. A 2012 study by Dr. Patricia Devin, for example, found that, as compared to those without the training (the control group), participants who received training showed an increased awareness of real-world bias and were more concerned with discrimination and prejudice.

Other states, including New York, have adopted a voluntary approach to implicit bias training.