Open College Doors with a Bias-Free Program
By Kimberly D. Brown and Christy Conley, Ed.D. | March 2025
Do you think your personal preferences and circle of loved ones don’t affect your work as a school counselor? Let’s take a deeper look.
In your mind, list six to 10 people you trust the most who aren’t family members. Who on your list is the same age, gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, region, speaks the same native language or has the same professional background as you? Do the people you trust the most have backgrounds similar to yours? This is the case for most people, school counselors included.
Despite years of graduate education and training, school counselors aren’t immune from implicit bias and it can affect our work with students if we aren’t aware of it. When we decide who gets recommended for advanced courses or selective programs, who gets awards or nominated for scholarships, who we will develop as leaders or whose ideas we consider, we may be adding our own subliminal and emotional criteria to that decision. If left unchecked, our implicit biases can be accomplices in creating unfair systems in our lives and our work.
Implicit bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared with another. It reinforces inequalities at work, school and other areas of our lives, but people often aren’t aware of the ways biases affect their behavior. Having implicit bias doesn’t make you a “bad person.” Instead, understand the importance of acknowledging the bias and how it can affect your work. Doing this can alter your decision-making process and how you interact with others. Ongoing professional development and open and courageous conversations help us learn to identify our biases so they don’t control our decision making and daily interactions.
Unlike implicit bias (an unconscious act or thought expressed indirectly), explicit bias operates consciously and is expressed directly. One must be careful not to let implicit biases become explicit biases. Examining both types should be required internal work for school counselors because of how these biases can affect work with students. Ask yourself: Are you opening or closing doors? Are you serving as a contributor or a disruptor in students’ lives? Are you allowing your biases to reinforce barriers and restrict opportunities for students, or are you working to remove barriers and provide opportunities?
A fair and bias-free process is important when selecting students for leadership positions. It’s easy to fall into the trap of selecting students who fit a certain mold or have specific qualities we deem desirable, but this can limit diversity and leave out qualified candidates. Instead, we should evaluate each student based on individual strengths and abilities, seeking to support and encourage all students to develop leadership skills. By doing so, we can create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and thrive.
Access to academic opportunities can create a catalyst of options for students. Student course selection establishes rigor on a student’s transcript and can significantly affect admissions status or qualification for scholarships. Academic rigor and GPA are two of the most impactful aspects reviewed in a college application. How does your school determine what classes are recommended to students? Are there barriers to the honors or AP/IB classes? Does your school review the percentages of different types of students who end up rigorous classes? Is AP potential used to help identify qualified students for AP classes who may otherwise be overlooked? Are you discussing ways to diversify homogeneous classes? Are those discussions turning into action?
It is essential to focus on the student’s strengths and accomplishments in a way that is fair and impartial, regardless of any personal biases we may have. Our language is central in how we paint our students’ pictures. Gender and racial bias often occur in letters of recommendation. A college representative gave a great tip to help school counselors avoid this. If you are describing a student, apply that same description to a student of another race, gender and/or background, and see if it would fit. If you find you are only applying the term “delightful” to female students and “leader” to male students, your bias may be showing. Letters of recommendation can often contain adjective biases related to gender, race, sexual orientation, class, etc. Evaluate your letters to avoid common biased adjectives. In their resources on writing bias-free letters of recommendation, Northwestern University suggests certain adjectives to limit (such as caring, compassionate, hard worker, warm) and to increase (skilled, insightful, ambitious). Learn more and access Northwestern’s gender bias calculator for letters. And don’t be afraid to ask college representatives to review your letters of recommendation and share if they notice biases.
As school counselors, we must recognize and challenge our own biases to ensure all students have equal opportunities to pursue their passions and achieve their goals. Ultimately, by promoting fairness and inclusivity, we can empower students to reach their full potential and succeed in their academic and professional pursuits.
Kimberly D. Brown is a school counselor at Wade Hampton High School in Wade Hampton, S.C. Christy Conley, Ed.D., is a school counselor at North Oconee High School in Bogart, Ga.
ASCA Position Statements:
In your mind, list six to 10 people you trust the most who aren’t family members. Who on your list is the same age, gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, region, speaks the same native language or has the same professional background as you? Do the people you trust the most have backgrounds similar to yours? This is the case for most people, school counselors included.
Despite years of graduate education and training, school counselors aren’t immune from implicit bias and it can affect our work with students if we aren’t aware of it. When we decide who gets recommended for advanced courses or selective programs, who gets awards or nominated for scholarships, who we will develop as leaders or whose ideas we consider, we may be adding our own subliminal and emotional criteria to that decision. If left unchecked, our implicit biases can be accomplices in creating unfair systems in our lives and our work.
Implicit bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared with another. It reinforces inequalities at work, school and other areas of our lives, but people often aren’t aware of the ways biases affect their behavior. Having implicit bias doesn’t make you a “bad person.” Instead, understand the importance of acknowledging the bias and how it can affect your work. Doing this can alter your decision-making process and how you interact with others. Ongoing professional development and open and courageous conversations help us learn to identify our biases so they don’t control our decision making and daily interactions.
Unlike implicit bias (an unconscious act or thought expressed indirectly), explicit bias operates consciously and is expressed directly. One must be careful not to let implicit biases become explicit biases. Examining both types should be required internal work for school counselors because of how these biases can affect work with students. Ask yourself: Are you opening or closing doors? Are you serving as a contributor or a disruptor in students’ lives? Are you allowing your biases to reinforce barriers and restrict opportunities for students, or are you working to remove barriers and provide opportunities?
Bias in School Counseling
In many ways, school counselors dictate whether doors of opportunity open or close for students. Although biases are a part of human nature, we can be aware of our biases and work to overcome them so we can provide fair and impartial support to all of our students.A fair and bias-free process is important when selecting students for leadership positions. It’s easy to fall into the trap of selecting students who fit a certain mold or have specific qualities we deem desirable, but this can limit diversity and leave out qualified candidates. Instead, we should evaluate each student based on individual strengths and abilities, seeking to support and encourage all students to develop leadership skills. By doing so, we can create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and thrive.
Access to academic opportunities can create a catalyst of options for students. Student course selection establishes rigor on a student’s transcript and can significantly affect admissions status or qualification for scholarships. Academic rigor and GPA are two of the most impactful aspects reviewed in a college application. How does your school determine what classes are recommended to students? Are there barriers to the honors or AP/IB classes? Does your school review the percentages of different types of students who end up rigorous classes? Is AP potential used to help identify qualified students for AP classes who may otherwise be overlooked? Are you discussing ways to diversify homogeneous classes? Are those discussions turning into action?
Bias in Recommendation Letters
Implicit bias can infiltrate many aspects of school counseling, noticeably in letters of recommendation. Inclusion strategist Verna Myers said in her Ted Talk, “Biases are the stories we make up about people before we know who they actually are.” Holding certain assumptions or stereotypes may unintentionally come through in a recommendation letter and affect the student’s chances of being accepted into their desired program or school.It is essential to focus on the student’s strengths and accomplishments in a way that is fair and impartial, regardless of any personal biases we may have. Our language is central in how we paint our students’ pictures. Gender and racial bias often occur in letters of recommendation. A college representative gave a great tip to help school counselors avoid this. If you are describing a student, apply that same description to a student of another race, gender and/or background, and see if it would fit. If you find you are only applying the term “delightful” to female students and “leader” to male students, your bias may be showing. Letters of recommendation can often contain adjective biases related to gender, race, sexual orientation, class, etc. Evaluate your letters to avoid common biased adjectives. In their resources on writing bias-free letters of recommendation, Northwestern University suggests certain adjectives to limit (such as caring, compassionate, hard worker, warm) and to increase (skilled, insightful, ambitious). Learn more and access Northwestern’s gender bias calculator for letters. And don’t be afraid to ask college representatives to review your letters of recommendation and share if they notice biases.
As school counselors, we must recognize and challenge our own biases to ensure all students have equal opportunities to pursue their passions and achieve their goals. Ultimately, by promoting fairness and inclusivity, we can empower students to reach their full potential and succeed in their academic and professional pursuits.
Kimberly D. Brown is a school counselor at Wade Hampton High School in Wade Hampton, S.C. Christy Conley, Ed.D., is a school counselor at North Oconee High School in Bogart, Ga.
Delve Deeper
Gender and Ethnic Bias in Letters of Recommendation: Considerations for School Counselors, Professional School Counseling, Volume 20, Issue 1ASCA Position Statements:
- The School Counselor and Letters of Recommendation
- The School Counselor and Anti-Racist Practices
- The School Counselor and Cultural Diversity
- The School Counselor and Equity for All Students