(Un)conscious Bias in the Astronomical Profession: Universal
  Recommendations to improve Fairness, Inclusiveness, and Representation
  (Un)conscious bias affects every aspect of the astronomical profession, from
scientific activities (e.g., invitations to join collaborations, proposal
selections, grant allocations, publication review processes, and invitations to
attend and speak at conferences) to activities more strictly related to career
advancement (e.g., reference letters, fellowships, hiring, promotion, and
tenure). For many, (un)conscious bias is still the main hurdle to achieving
excellence, as the most diverse talents encounter bigger challenges and
difficulties to reach the same milestones than their more privileged
colleagues. Over the past few years, the Space Telescope Science Institute
(STScI) has constructed tools to raise awareness of (un)conscious bias and has
designed guidelines and goals to increase diversity representation and outcome
in its scientific activities, including career-related matters and STScI
sponsored fellowships, conferences, workshops, and colloquia. STScI has also
addressed (un)conscious bias in the peer-review process by anonymizing
submission and evaluation of Hubble Space Telescope (and soon to be James Webb
Space Telescope) observing proposals. In this white paper we present a plan to
standardize these methods with the expectation that these universal
recommendations will truly increase diversity, inclusiveness and fairness in
Astronomy if applied consistently throughout all the scientific activities of
the Astronomical community.
