Stereotyping Refers to the Shortcut When We Judge Someone on the Basis of Our Perception of the Group to Which He or She Belongs

[1] Stereotyping refers to the shortcut when we judge someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs.

Situation

Joan Clarke shows up for the casting of a new team member, and only people who managed to solve a crossword puzzle quickly are allowed to attend the casting. Joan tells Alan’s colleague that she finishes on her own and she is a candidate for the mysterious job. However, Alan’s colleague doubts if Joan really solved the puzzle by herself. Later on Alan allows Joan to attend the casting, and all contestants are males except Joan. Joan raises her hand indicating that she has already finished the task assigned with only 5 minutes and 34 seconds, being the first among all contestants. She is eventually selected to be in the team working with Alan.

Relevant OB Concepts

Stereotyping arises because we rely on generalisations to help us make decisions quickly. However, it may not contain a shred of truth when it is applied to a particular person or situation. In Joan’s case, Alan’s colleague judges Joan’s ability by the sheer fact that she is a woman, and distrusts Joan when she claims that she solved the puzzle on her own. This depicts the perception of women in society and the problem of [2]gender discrimination, which refers to that people make decisions on the basis of someone’s gender, or sex. However, Joan proves that a woman can have the ability to finish a job typically stereotyped as a ‘masculine’ job.

Suggestions

As mentioned before, Stereotyping does help us quickly make a decision, but it is not a panacea for making judgments. It is important and desirable to treat women in the same way as men with respect to participating in interviews, contests or other occasions. In a team setting, the rules for hunting talents should be regardless of sex. Therefore, it could be valuable and beneficial to the team to [3] bring in outsiders, which means adding people to a group whose backgrounds, values, attitudes, or managerial styles differ from those of present members, to diverse the team composition. In Joan’s case, Alan’s colleague should have developed a more friendly and positive attitude towards Joan without being skeptical about her abilities, but instead, he could have invited Joan to participate in the casting upon Joan has showed the proof that she finished the crossword puzzle. Additionally, letting women to work with men in the same project enables women to show their talents or abilities of finishing the same task. This not only allows men to understand the capabilities of women, but also helps alleviate the stereotyping that women are weaker than men in handling the same task.