Conducting oral examinations in a gender-sensitive manner while taking unconscious bias into account

Oral examinations offer numerous advantages: they enable direct interaction between instructors and students and allow for a holistic assessment of knowledge and competencies.

However, especially in such conversational settings, unconscious biases can influence evaluation without our awareness. Our brains rely on automatic mental shortcuts to process information quickly — a mechanism that helps in everyday life but may cause stereotypes to unintentionally shape our perception and assessment of students in exam situations. Factors such as gender, age, skin color, or sexuality can play a role and lead to unintended assessment errors.

In this workshop, participants will gain insights into current (neuro-)scientific findings on unconscious bias and reflect on their own examination experiences through individual and group work. Strategies will be presented and practiced to minimize the impact of bias and foster a more open and fair examination culture.

Schedule & Dates

• Session 1: November 14, 2025 | 9:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

• Session 2: November 25, 2025 | 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

• Transfer phase: Between the online sessions, participants will complete a practice-oriented transfer task (3 academic hours) to apply what they have learned directly.

Register now!

Sign up for the event and take the opportunity to make examinations more inclusive. We look forward to your participation!