We’re Not Inclusive Enough Yet (And We Don’t Even Know It)

Here’s an uncomfortable truth about construction. We have unconscious biases that we’re completely unaware of. And the most dangerous thing about unconscious bias is that it’s far more prevalent than conscious prejudice and often incompatible with our conscious values. Meaning we could be doing it right now and we don’t even know it.

I’ve been there. I had a severe unconscious bias against men who didn’t work to support their families. If I saw a stay-at-home dad, my automatic assumption was that he was lazy or not providing properly. That bias was completely unconscious until someone pointed it out to me. I would have told you I respected all kinds of family structures. I would have said I wasn’t judgmental. But my automatic thinking revealed a prejudice I didn’t know I had.

That’s the problem with unconscious bias. You think you’re fair. You think you’re respectful. You think you’re creating equal opportunities. And then you realize your automatic assumptions are making decisions before your conscious mind ever gets involved. Those automatic assumptions about age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, weight, tattoos, appearance, they’re shaping who you hire, who you promote, who you trust, and who you dismiss before they ever get a chance.

The Pain of Not Knowing What You Don’t Know

You’ve probably made assumptions this week without realizing it. Someone walked onto your job site, and within three seconds you made a judgment about their competence based on how they looked. Someone spoke in a meeting, and you weighted their opinion differently based on their age or gender or accent. Someone asked for an opportunity, and you had a gut reaction that you couldn’t quite explain but that influenced your decision.

These aren’t moral failures. These are automatic processes that happen in everyone’s brain when we’re multitasking or working under time pressure, which describes most of construction most of the time. Certain scenarios activate unconscious attitudes and beliefs that we’d reject if we were thinking consciously. But in the moment, under pressure, those biases make decisions for us.

I’ve seen people in construction get terminated or suspended for making inappropriate comments. I’ve watched careers damaged because someone revealed biases they didn’t know they had until it was too late. I’ve seen teams torn apart because someone felt excluded or disrespected in ways the offender never intended. And in almost every case, the person who caused the problem would have told you they weren’t biased. They genuinely believed they treated everyone fairly.

That’s the gap. The gap between what we think we believe and what our automatic thinking reveals. And that gap is costing construction more than we realize.

The System Doesn’t Teach Us to See Our Biases

Here’s what I want you to understand. The construction industry doesn’t systematically teach people to recognize unconscious bias. It teaches us technical skills and safety procedures and project management. But it doesn’t teach us to examine our automatic assumptions about people who look different from us, believe different things, or live different lives.

Think about the automatic assumptions that run through construction daily. If someone is older and in a lower position, the assumption is they’re not capable or smart enough or they should have been promoted by now. If someone is overweight, the automatic thought is they must be lazy or sloppy. If someone has extensive tattoos, the gut reaction is they probably got out of jail or they’re rough and unapproachable. If someone is a woman in a leadership position, the unspoken question is whether she’s really qualified or if she’s a diversity hire.

These thoughts happen automatically. And most people would be horrified if you accused them of thinking this way. But unconscious bias isn’t about what we’d say out loud. It’s about the split-second judgments our brains make before we consciously think about them.

I hold my religious beliefs very seriously. My wife and I are what you’d call super churchy. And at the same time, I have complete space for understanding, love, and acceptance of people with different sexual orientations, different beliefs, different life choices. I don’t violate any of my religious beliefs by accepting everybody for who they are. Those things aren’t connected in my mind. I can hold my values and simultaneously celebrate and support people who live differently.

But I’ve seen massive bias and prejudice against sexual orientation in construction. I’ve heard people use offensive terms casually. I’ve watched assumptions that if you’re gay you can’t be the tough guy in construction. I’ve seen people excluded or dismissed based on who they love instead of what they can build. And most of the people doing this would tell you they’re not homophobic. They just have unconscious assumptions they’ve never examined.

What Unconscious Bias Actually Costs Us

Let me be direct about something. Look around at executive leadership in construction. How many women executives do you see? How many executives of different races? How many openly gay executives? You see a bunch of white males. And people are going to stop listening to this podcast right now, but I’m going to say that’s a problem.

If it happened accidentally because we’re in an equal opportunity environment and people just chose not to pursue those roles, then maybe. But I doubt that’s the case. I think the case is that it’s not as easy for people who don’t fit the traditional construction mold to make it to those levels of leadership. And that is a problem. That’s going to hinder our progress in construction. That’s not respecting people. That’s leaving talent and perspective and capability on the table because our unconscious biases filter out people before they get the same chances.

Here’s what this looks like practically. Age bias means assuming older workers in lower positions must not be competent instead of recognizing they might have chosen different priorities or faced different barriers. Weight bias means automatically judging someone’s work ethic based on their body instead of their actual performance. Appearance bias means seeing tattoos or unconventional grooming and making assumptions about professionalism instead of evaluating actual behavior. Gender bias means questioning women’s qualifications or capability more rigorously than men’s.

These biases show up in who gets hired, who gets mentoring, who gets challenging assignments, who gets promoted, who gets listened to in meetings, who gets second chances when they make mistakes. And the cumulative effect is that people who don’t fit the traditional construction profile have to work harder, prove more, and overcome barriers that others never face.

Building Awareness and Creating Change

So what do we do about unconscious bias? First, we get training. We develop sensitivity to the gaps we can’t see without help. We become aware that our automatic thinking might not align with our conscious values. We get open to feedback when someone points out assumptions we’re making.

Second, we look around. If your team looks exactly like you, that’s data. Not necessarily proof of bias, but data worth examining. Are you creating environments where diverse people want to work? Are you giving equal opportunities to people who don’t fit traditional molds? Are you mentoring and developing people who might need extra support because the system hasn’t set them up the way it set you up?

Third, we celebrate when protected classes win. When women get promoted, be ecstatic about it. When minorities advance, support that loudly. When people who don’t fit traditional construction stereotypes succeed, champion that success. Because it doesn’t cost you anything. There’s plenty of room for all of us. Helping everyone up the ladder doesn’t pull you down. It makes the whole industry stronger.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

• Examining your automatic reactions when you first meet someone who looks different from you or your team • Questioning whether you’re holding some people to higher standards of proof before trusting their competence • Creating systems that reduce bias in hiring and promotion by focusing on demonstrated skills rather than gut feelings • Seeking out diverse perspectives actively instead of waiting for them to appear naturally in homogeneous environments

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that respecting people means examining our unconscious assumptions and creating equal opportunities for everyone to reach their potential, regardless of how they look or where they come from.

The bottom line is we just don’t recognize when unconscious bias is happening. Certain scenarios activate it, especially when we’re multitasking or working under time pressure, which is most of construction most of the time. The key is developing sensitivity to it. Seeing that there’s a gap between our conscious values and our automatic thinking. Being aware. Being open. Getting training.

The Challenge: Look for Your Blind Spots

So here’s my challenge to you. Maybe you haven’t done anything wrong. Maybe you look around and your team looks exactly like you, and you made all the right decisions and didn’t leave anyone out. That’s fine. But if you did, get some training. Look around and see where you can fill gaps with people who are diverse. Create awareness that diversity is helpful and that unconscious bias might be filtering out talent you never get to see.

It doesn’t cost us anything to help everyone up the ladder, specifically those who haven’t always had the same opportunities. It doesn’t cost us anything. But if we don’t do it, it will cost us everything. It will cost our effectiveness, our productivity, our happiness, our ability to respect people properly, our teams’ satisfaction at home. It’ll cost us everything if we don’t get this fixed.

When we see protected classes winning, we should celebrate. When we see women being promoted, we should be ecstatic. We should be comfortable that we have nothing to fear. There’s plenty of room for all of us. We should celebrate when everybody has the same opportunities that you do. That’s when we know we’ve moved past unconscious bias into genuine respect for people.

As Nelson Mandela wrote in his autobiography, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Having unconscious bias doesn’t make you a bad person. Refusing to examine it and change it does. Be courageous enough to look at your blind spots and create opportunities for people who’ve been filtered out by biases you didn’t know you had.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if I have unconscious bias if it’s unconscious?

You probably do because everyone does. The brain makes automatic judgments based on patterns it’s learned throughout life. The question isn’t whether you have bias but whether you’re willing to examine your automatic reactions. Notice your gut feelings when you meet people who look different from you or your team. Question whether those feelings reflect reality or learned assumptions.

What if I’m worried about being accused of bias when I make legitimate decisions?

Focus on creating systems that reduce opportunities for bias to influence decisions. Use structured interviews with consistent questions. Evaluate performance based on specific measurable outcomes rather than gut feelings. Document your reasoning for decisions. When decisions are based on demonstrated skills and clear criteria, you have evidence that bias didn’t drive them.

How do I celebrate diversity without tokenizing people or making them feel singled out?

The key is celebrating genuine achievement and creating equal opportunity, not just highlighting demographic characteristics. Support people’s advancement because they earned it and because diverse teams perform better. Create environments where everyone can succeed rather than just praising individuals for being different.

What if my team or company culture doesn’t prioritize diversity and inclusion?

Then you have an opportunity to lead by example in your sphere of influence. Examine your own biases. Make inclusive choices in who you hire, mentor, and support. Speak up when you see unfair treatment. Culture changes when enough individuals decide to operate by higher standards regardless of what everyone else is doing.

How do I handle situations where someone else’s bias is creating problems on my team?

Address it directly and respectfully. Point out the specific behavior or comment that’s problematic without attacking the person’s character. Explain the impact on team members and productivity. Provide training or resources to help them recognize and change the pattern. If it continues, escalate appropriately to protect everyone on your team.