Ep 140 Making Canada Safer: Challenging Implicit Biases in National Security

A Podcast Called INTREPID

We continue with a series theme we began in the summer: diversity and inclusion in the security and intelligence sector. In this episode, Jessica Davis speaks with Dr. Rachel Schmidt on her recent International Journal article “Investigating implicit biases around race and gender in Canadian counterterrorism”. As the two discuss, this is not about being politically correct: bias affects national security operations and policy outcomes. However, while Rachel’s research suggests this problem is largely recognized in the Canadian national security community itself, individuals are lost when it comes to trying to create change. But this is no excuse for not taking action: confronting implicit bias around gender, race and religion is important for doing national security better.

The article under discussion can be found here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020702020976615