Workers at the U.S. government 's Forest Service have been asked to use online tests to check whether they are secretly racist , or harboring other biases . The federal employees were asked to use work time to take tests , lasting some 15 minutes each , to see whether they have unconscious biases based on sexuality , nationalist , race and whether somebody is disabled . The practice was reported on by the Washington Times , which said the directive to take the Harvard quizzes came from Forest Management Director Bryan Rice . Test : Employees were asked to take assessments such as the above on race , where users alternate between sorting black and white people , then good and bad qualities . The speed with which they do it determined underlying bias , according to the study . He also reportedly asked bosses at other federal agencies to spread links to the Harvard tests , hosted at implicit.harvard.edu . Idea : Bryan Rice , pictured , sent the tests round to staff . The tests are a kind of word association game , which flashes up emotions or qualities such as 'happy ' , 'agony ' and 'laughter ' , which users must sort into 'good ' and 'bad ' categories . These are then mixed with elements of the category being tested - for example the race test flashes up pictures of black and white faces . Participants complete several rounds of testing , first being instructed to associate all the 'good ' words with one race , then the other . The more quickly and accurately they make each association - good or bad - the stronger their underlying bias is said to be . Rice asked his workers to take two tests each , and said they would be discussed in a later meeting . An unnamed congressional source suggested to the Washington Times that the tests are a waste of time , and the agency should focus on stopping forest fires . Defending himself , Rice said : 'The unconscious bias material can help us explore diversity and inclusion in the workplace . 'It was included in a discussion of diversity as part of a continuous series of collaborative discussions on a variety of topics we have on my staff that cover key Forest Service policies and values as a means of fostering continued awareness . ' Federal agency : Rice urged leaders of departments other than his slice of the Forest Service to start using the tests .
Top manager of government service told workers to take Forest Service tests . Word association exercise judges what people 's biases could be . Bryan Rice , a director in federal agency , defended the practice .