Stereotypes In The Workplace Essay

Do you think that someone will be good at a sport because of their race? Michael Scott from the T.V. show The Office thinks so. The Office is a sitcom which depicts the “typical” office environment with Michal Scott being the boss who is very insensitive and says things most people would see as very rude, but he thinks of as normal. In the office Stanley is the only African American and Oscar is the only Latino, these two are typically quiet and are insulted by Michael.

“You can’t judge a book by it’s cover”. Every day our parents tell us as children that we cannot judge things based on the first glances that we see. However, people in our society today have filled their heads with stereotypes in order to judge people and their abilities. And when hiring employees, stereotypes and first glances is all an employer sees and therefore care about. In her book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich proves that a person’s race and gender have a massive influence on the type of low-wage work a person can find, due to the stereotypes that are associated with gender and race in our society today.

Stereotypes affect all of us, more so when we are not aware of them. Recognizing stereotypes helps us to move past them. Choose one stereotype about nursing. In at least three paragraphs, describe the stereotype, show an example of the stereotype from literature, television, a movie, etc., and then describe how the stereotype could positively and negatively affect the image of nursing. Cite your sources in APA format. Save your work as a Word document and submit as an attachment in Blackboard.

Black women have come a long way from just being the typical housewife and mother. They have excelled over the years. Now you have female entrepreneurs, astronauts, doctors, professors, etc. Back then, females were not even allowed to work. To try to degrade someone for their gender is discrimination at its best. Because of stereotypes and old myths, Black Women were viewed as lazy, angry, intimidating, unintelligent, etc. It was said that Black Women were only good for making babies and being on welfare.

In some communities, employers dislike to employ women. In others they are reluctant to hire

al, 1996, p. 65). Minority women faced greater oppression, and were less likely to be hired. If they were lucky enough to find a job, it was usually low-ranking, part-time, and short-term, as employers eagerly replaced them with Caucasians, men or both (Frances et. al, 1996, pp. 69-70). Part-time work was very common, with 25% of female workers part-time in 1989 (Frances et. al, 1996, p. 66), displaying an employer’s reluctance to allow women employees. Even as more females entered the workforce despite resistance, they were still discriminated against due to the current powers in charge.

Currently, equality is a conflict that many people are striving to resolve. There has been much progress within the last hundred years (Women's International Center, n.d.), since all types of people have started participating in the American workforce, but we still have some ways to go. Certain groups of individuals are guided into certain types of jobs (Skaggs & Bridges, 2013). Research provides support that minorities, women, and people of color tend to be employed and concentrated in low wage work (Blackburn, Jarman, & Racko, 2016). Stereotypes that surround these protected groups are part of the cause as to why they are employed in certain jobs. These stereotypes include; women are mothers and cannot be dedicated to her job or ethnic minorities do not have adequate skill

The postwar period starting in 1945 was a time of economic boom and a shared sense of unity in the United States, or so it seemed. Although the unemployment rate was zero percent women and African American workers were becoming increasingly unhappy with their roles in the American post-war economy. Employment of women in America was at an all-time high reaching 19 million by 1945. However, the traditional gender roles between men and women created tension after the war due to women’s push for opportunity outside of their typical roles at home. In the post-war period, African American workers were still feeling a sense of segregation and inequality in the workforce. They were usually the last to be hired, especially African American women,

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

Another common stereotype is that they are filthy and unintelligent individuals. The filthy believe comes hand in hand with the poor and lazy believe. As previously stated, immigrants are mostly field workers thus they are perceived as always being covered in dirt, germs and odors. In a conversation with Antonio Rendon, an immigrant field worker, he admitted to me that he has been looked down at for walking into a gas station after work. He described the situation as follows: he walked into a Valero gas station, grabbed some snacks and a drink and when walking to the cashier he was looked at with disapproving eyes by a “white middle-aged lady”, regardless of him being in line before her she walked to the cashier and made her purchase.

Stereotype threats are negative consequences about one’s race, sex, nationality, or social group. Stereotype threats are used a lot more frequently than people realize. Gender is a powerful stereotype that affects many people’s decisions and actions. The stereotype of women in the workplace has come a long way even in the last twenty years. Many businesses tend to want to diversify their demographics by making the ratio of men to women almost equal. “Demographic projections anticipate that by the year 2000 women will exceed 50 per cent of the total workforce…” (Johnston and Packer, 1987). Women were able to make their way in to the workplace when men were off at war during the 1950s. During this time, women proved their ability to do the same kind of jobs men did. Many women worked as machinist, factory workers, and clergies.

'Dumb jocks';, 'Women don't belong in a professional setting, they belong in the kitchen';, 'He must be a Jew, just look at his nose.'; Our society is based solely on face values where we tend to place someone in a category because of his or her actions. Prejudicial notations used to define members of a social or ethnic group are called stereotypes. We stereotype various groups of people, but none like women, different ethnic groups, and athletes.

The study of Peters, Ryan, Haslam and Fernandes (2012) explains why women take fewer jobs in male dominated fields of occupation through the extent of their occupational prototype fit. They use two different studies: the first one is done by a female sample and resulted that women, who do not see themselves as fitting in that “occupational prototype”, are tend to leave that profession, because they did not identify themselves with it. However as this was a sample of only women, they did the second study on a sample of both genders. The second study shows that women are more likely to perceive the differences between themselves and the “occupational prototype”.

The negative stereotype that is fueling the recruiter’s decision in the case study is the idea that a poor response to the question examining weakness is a result of negative behavioral characteristics. The assumption is that the interviewee does not properly evaluate him or herself, they will not receive constructive criticism well and are not committed to self-improvement.  Stereotypes, which are a perceived belief about the characteristics of a group, can be maintained by incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). First, because of the perceived negative behavioral characteristics, the interviewee will not properly evaluate their attributes.

Aside from arising from mental shortcuts, it has also been proposed that stereotypes are a result of group conflict (Sherif, 1966). Regularly, individuals behave in a way that is expected of them in order to uphold the impressions others have of them. Thus, individuals act accordingly and embody the stereotype which is projected upon them (Baumeister & Bushman). The degree to which we rely on stereotypes when establishing judgements of others has been widely investigated in the field of social psychology. Frequently, the harmful consequences of relying on stereotypes is noted with the potential of this tendency to lead to prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, the variation in the significance of stereotypes has been explored to determine