Lancaster Speaker Series: Dr. Tanya De Mello – Unconscious Biases

This session will explore how inclusion, belonging, and equity operate in workplaces through a labour, employment, and human rights lens. Drawing on research and practice, Dr. De Mello will highlight how organizations, including universities, often fall short of reflecting the diversity of the communities they serve, despite widespread use of equity and diversity language. The session will emphasize that a genuine sense of belonging is a key driver of job satisfaction, employee well-being, and retention, and is shaped by everyday decisions about inclusion, recognition, and opportunity. Participants are invited to examine how conscious and unconscious biases influence the ways in which they engage and work. Rather than offering prescriptive solutions, the session intentionally centres introspection and discomfort as necessary components of meaningful change. The discussion connects individual decision making to broader structural patterns, reinforcing that inclusive workplaces are not created through intention alone but through sustained, reflective practice and accountability.