Why are minorities not progressing as fast as white male in the workplace – Negative Stereotypes! Prejudgments! – That’s why

 

Negative stereotypes of people benefit no one but the persons making those judgments, especially if those persons are in positions of power with the ability to confer benefits on others. How you perceive a person will determine the benefits/opportunities you give them.  It important for managers, leaders, personnel officers, doctors, etc. who have power in their hands over the lives of others to constantly check themselves and their perceptions to ensure that they are not moving blindly in  the darkness of negative stereotypes and overlook the facts.

At a recent diversity Conference in Washington D.C, Dr. Claude Steele, social psychologist, drawing from his groundbreaking research that examined the impact of stereotypes and identity on the achievement and underachievement among blacks and women, confirmed that the threat of being stereotype is crippling to people who are negatively stereotyped.

"When you feel under threat, you know that based on an identity you have, something bad could happen. You don't know whether in fact it will happen. You don't know precisely what could happen or when or where it could happen," he said. "It's like having a snake loose in the house. It's a terrible feeling. When you are in this situation, most of your cognitive resources are devoted to vigilance."

   When you feel under threat you become hyper vigilant and lose confidence in your ability because you start to second guess yourself and blaming yourself.

Steele said this anxiety often manifests itself in psychological and physiological ways, including distraction, increased body temperature and increased heart rate, all of which diminish performance levels.

"If you care about what you are doing, the prospect of being judged is upsetting and distressing and disturbing,'' he said.”In a situation like this, it takes cognitive resources away from a relaxed engagement with the task at hand and that undermines your performance."

Other researchers argue that stereotype threat undermines academic achievement both by interfering with performance on mental tasks, and over time, by prompting students to protect their self-esteem by disengaging from the threatened environment. (Aronson, Joshua; Quinn, Diane M.; Spencer, Steven J).

   Stereotypes are like marks set in concrete. They remain there unless someone deliberately digs them out.  How can we dig out the stereotypes we have of others? I will try tackling that in my next entry.