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Stereotyping in the Workplace
Introduction
Stereotyping is a way by which people try to simplify their complex environment and respond quickly to circumstances. Cardwell defines stereotype as a fixed, over generalised belief about a particular group or class of people (McLeod, 2008). In other words, it is a human tendency to group a set of people similar in certain characteristics, ignoring their distinctness and generalising their attributes and behavioural patterns. Stereotyping is a common phenomenon in workplace. People interact with a lot of people during work. They may or may not have the time to analyse the personality of each and everyone. Thus, resorting to stereotyping helps them quickly process information about their peers, superiors and subordinates and respond accordingly.
The objective of this paper is to discuss the various stereotypes that exist in corporate America and explain why gender stereotyping is the most prevalent. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part discusses about discuss different types of stereotypes that are prevalent in workplaces of the United States. The second part of the paper explains why gender stereotyping is most frequent in occurrence and the rationale behind it. The third part concludes the paper.
Stereotypes in Workplaces
Studies have shown that stereotypes have a lasting negative impact on individuals and causes increased aggression, overeating and difficulty in rational decision making (Science Daily, 2010). The common stereotypes existent in corporate America are based on race, ethnicity, disability, age and gender.
Stereotyping the capability of people based on their race or ethnicity causes racial/ethnic discrimination at workplaces. Ethnic discrimination is less visible than racial, but both are prevalent in American corporate culture. In spite of growing consciousness against stereotyping and discrimination, corporate America still has a very low percentage of minorities as compared to whites (Knowledge Galaxy, 2009). The scenario is changing, but racial and ethnic discernment is becoming less overt rather than getting eliminated. According to Knowledge Galaxy (2009), whites form 38% of the workforce of America, but they constitute of about 94% of employees at senior manager positions. Stereotype based on race and ethnicity results in behaviour of their public harassment, of disregarding them for managerial positions and being insensitive to them. Thus, this category of people is generally associated with decreased job satisfaction, higher aggression and lower level of well-being.
The common stereotypes about people with disability are that they are incompetent and inherently incapable of performing their duties efficiently at workplace. Irrespective of their skills sets, their disability and nature of work they are expected to perform, they are considered less adept than a person without disability. Hence, they are preferred less over people who do not have any disability. A common notion is that hiring people with disability will double the burden of work for co-workers and can diffuse melancholy and depression in the work environment. However, various researches have shown that these are mere misconceptions. It is important for corporate leaders to take the first step to break misconceptions and stereotypes against disability and focus on hiring people with the right attitude and skills, irrespective of physical disability.
Age discrimination in organisations can be observed against old age or young people. Like people with disability, old age people are also considered less competent to successfully fulfil their job responsibilities. Young people are sometimes associated with lack of experience and insincerity. In reality, people of a particular age group have their unique worldview that sets apart some people as more or less valuable in a workplace depending upon their age. However, discrimination experienced by the old age people at workplaces is more frequent than those faced by younger people. Most of the companies have a tendency to fix an age bracket as the primary screening criteria for job openings. This criterion screens out the elderly people. In the process, the company loses people with valuable experience and technical knowledge. Ageing is a natural process and everyone faces it, sooner or later. Hence, efforts are being made to bring in a positive employment policy for the elderly people and avoid such incidences of discrimination and humiliation.
Gender discrimination is the most prominent of all the common stereotypes experienced in an American corporate setting, which is discussed in the next section.
Gender Stereotyping
Stereotyping the workforce based on gender is the most prominent form of stereotyping in the United States. The four most common forms of discrimination against women are unequal pay, glass ceiling, sexual harassment and inflexible attitude towards crisis situations. The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics cites that women working 41 to 44 hours weekly earn about 15 % lesser than their male counterparts (Grohol 2009). Glass ceiling is a discrimination against women that emanates from the perception that women are not capable of handling senior level positions in an organisation. According to Bell, McLaughlin and Sequeira (2002), women comprise about 30% of all managers in the U.S., but only 5% of executive managers. Determining pay increases, promotions and recruitment on the basis of sexual favours amounts to sexual harassment in a workplace. There are several incidences in a workplace that amount to treating women as sex objects and lead to sexual harassment of women. Often managers are insensitive and inflexible about pregnancy and child care issues of women. They may ignore pleas of women employees for emergency leaves.
The numerous forms of stereotyping against women, that too when women form about half of the entire workforce, makes it the most prominent issue of stereotyping. In an organisation, women are discriminated against in various ways. This impairs with a women’s work efficiency at office as well as home. The impact of stereotyping on behaviour changes in a woman negatively affects her family as well.
Conclusion
Stereotyping is ignoring distinctness of a human being and generalising attributes and behavioural patterns of a group of people. It is a common phenomenon in workplaces. Stereotypes have lasting negative impact on individuals. Affected individuals can become more aggressive and find it difficult to make rational decisions. The common types of stereotypes in an organisation are based are based on race, ethnicity, disability, age and gender. Gender stereotyping is the most prominent of all forms of stereotyping for various reasons. Women form about half of the entire workforce in the United States. Discrimination against them is less subtle and employers may resort to asking for sexual favours from them. Most of the times, their managers are insensitive to their pregnancy and child care emergencies. Adding to this, they are often perceived fit for executive management positions.
The impact of stereotyping is not limited to a person, but affects his or her family and workplace environment. The negativity produced due to stereotyping affects everyone adversely. Thus, it is important to create awareness and legal environment to protect the rights of people against any kind of discrimination. Inculcating a positive behaviour in children helps eradicate stereotyping from the roots.
References
Bell, M.P., McLaughlin. M.E. and Sequeira, J.M. (2002). Discrimination, Harassment and the Glass Ceiling: Women Executives as Change Agent. Journal of Business Ethics, 37: 65-76.
Grohol, John M. (2009). Gender Discrimination in Workplace. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/10/09/gender-discrimination-in-the-workplace/8868.html
Knowledge Galaxy (2009). Racism in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgegalaxy.net/racism_in_the_workplace/racism_in_the_workplace.html
McLeod, Saul (2008). Stereotypes. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html
Science Daily (2010). Stereotyping has a Lasting Negative Impact, New Research Finds. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100810122210.htm
