Implicit bias is one of the most successful cases in recent memory of an academic concept being translated into practice. Its use in the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program—which seeks to promote gender equality in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) careers through institutional transformation—has raised fundamental questions about organizational change. How do advocates translate theories into practice? What makes some concepts more tractable than others? What happens to theories through this translation process? We explore these questions using the ADVANCE program as a case study. Using an inductive, theory-building approach and combination of computational and qualitative methods, we investigate how the concept of implicit bias was translated into practice through the ADVANCE program and identify five key features that made implicit bias useful as a change framework in the academic STEM setting. We find that the concept of implicit bias works programmatically because it is (1) demonstrable, (2) relatable, (3) versatile, (4) actionable, and (5) impartial. While enabling the concept’s diffusion, these characteristics also limit its scope. We reflect on implications for gender theories of organizational change and for practitioners.

内隐偏见是最近将学术概念转化为实践的最成功案例之一。它在国家科学基金会ADVANCE计划中的使用（该计划旨在通过机构转型促进STEM（科学，技术，工程，数学）职业中的性别平等）提出了有关组织变革的基本问题。倡导者如何将理论转化为实践？是什么使某些概念比其他概念更易于处理？在这个翻译过程中，理论发生了什么？我们使用ADVANCE程序作为案例研究来探讨这些问题。使用归纳，理论构建方法以及计算和定性方法的结合，我们研究了如何通过ADVANCE计划将隐性偏见的概念转化为实践，并确定使隐性偏见作为学术STEM设置中的变更框架有用的五个关键特征。我们发现隐式偏见的概念在程序上起作用，因为它是（1）可证明的，（2）可关联的，（3）通用的，（4）可操作的和（5）公正的。在使概念得以传播的同时，这些特征也限制了其范围。我们思考对组织变革的性别理论和从业人员的影响。这些特征也限制了它的范围。我们思考对组织变革的性别理论和从业人员的影响。这些特征也限制了它的范围。我们思考对组织变革的性别理论和从业人员的影响。