William Heinemann wins auction for book on racial bias

William Heinemann has acquired Biased: The New Science of Race and Inequality by social psychologist Dr Jennifer Eberhardt at auction.

Tom Avery struck the deal for UK and Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis of Abner Stein on behalf of Doug Abrams at Idea Architects.

Biased is pitched as a "landmark" exploration of the ways our unconscious mind shapes our thinking and behaviour when it comes to race, stereotyping, inequality and how we view others.

Professor Eberhardt  has a PhD from Harvard University and is a professor of psychology at Stanford, specialised in racial bias. Her book is said to draw on "groundbreaking research" to highlight what Eberhardt identifies as the social problems that arise when different races meet and the persistent role of racial bias. It also offer solutions how to recognise and manage unconscious bias.  

This year the trade's discussion on diversity widened to consider the impact of unconscious bias, with HarperCollins' director of people John Athanasiou calling unconscious bias a "huge problem" for recruiters in March 2016.

Biased will be published by William Heinemann in 2018, and by Windmill Books in 2019.