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 Harvard tests . Word association exercise judges what people's biases could be . Bryan Rice, a director in federal agency, defended the practice .