Prejudice and bias.

What would you think of such a person: girl born to an unwed mother who’s a high school dropout, and growing up in one of the poorest rural neighbourhoods in the United States who later becomes pregnant at 14 after being raped, and having to endure other episodes of sexual abuse? Later on, she would face strong resistance and challenges in her career because of her looks and build, and succumbs to bouts of depression and substance abuse?

Surely you wouldn’t think or even believe such a person would ever have what we would call “a bright future”; fewer of us would have guessed right away that the person in question is one of America’s most influential African-American celebrities named Oprah Winfrey.

Some of us may ask who are we to judge, especially since none of us is perfect; prejudices and bias abound in the world we live in, and it’s not even a question of right or wrong—at one point or another, all of us are guilty of prejudice and bias—question we should be asking ourselves is more a case of how our prejudices would adversely affect that someone else we encounter or make a victim of.

What if our prejudice and bias have led directly or indirectly to someone either losing their jobs, or is being denied or deprived of an opportunity to seek employment?

Our biasness may extend beyond the cases of people with criminal records or have physical disabilities—anyone of us could potentially fall prey to discrimination or prejudice at the work place.

It’s easy for companies to wear a tagline that says “equal opportunity employer”—how many actually live up to that tag?

Here in Singapore, we have certain structures, legal statutes and tri-partite agreements that are designed to remove the elements of bias and discrimination and to ensure fair employment opportunities. Even so, it would be naïve to think such structures, rules and laws necessarily mean everyone and anyone who applies for jobs will be treated fairly—hiring managers and employers have their hiring preferences, and many don’t even relate to the job descriptions and hiring criteria already stated.

Let’s take a moment to think this through, and be honest: if you were an employer, and a candidate applies to an opening you have who has the right education qualifications or is sufficiently experienced, BUT is of a minority race or a particular nationality, has a juvenile criminal record, is an unwed single mother, or has a physical disability that renders certain inconveniences at the workplace, would you even think of granting that person a first interview?