Stereotyping: Can It Be Useful?

Conference #2: Stereotyping: Can it be Useful?

1. What stereotypes are present in the average workplace here in the United States?

In today’s average workplace there are several sterotypes present: masculine and feminine-typed jobs, Pregnancy in the Workplace, Hispanics receive very little pay for hard work, Italian Americans are ignorant and uneducated, and all black males with dreads and sagging pants are hoodlums or thugs.

2. Are stereotypes ever useful?

Stereotypes are qualities assigned to groups of people related to their race, ... stereotypes make little sense and aren't useful tools by which to judge others ... They can often be wrong, but most times they are right on the money. Stereotypes ignore the uniqueness of individuals by painting all members of a group with the same brush. But stereotypes can also be useful to the media because they provide a quick identity for a person or group that is easily recognized by an audience.

3. How would a stereotype actually be of value in workplace?

Stereotyping can be of value in the workplace by expanding your perceptions and opening your mind to diversities, open yourself up to learning about different cultures in business, and apply effort to you endeavour to learn from things you don't understand. Learning from each other's differences and having a slice of humble pie is all that is required to eliminate stereotyping. There are so many things that we can learn from each other's differences. We cannot expect to move forward if we continue to refer back to past stereotyping.

4. What are you doing to combat stereotypes in the workplace?

To combat stereotyping in the workplace you need to be willing to change the way you work and tune out all the small talk around the workplace.

5. If you become aware of an employee behaving in a prejudicial manner in the workplace in a way that reflects a stereotype of another person, how will you deal with this as a manager?...