Gender-Based Perceptions

Purpose: 1. To increase awareness of gender stereotypes.2. To increase awareness of your own tendency to stereotype others.3. To examine the influence of stereotypes on individuals’ interac-

tions with others in daily life and work settings.

Preparation: None

Time: 60 minutes

INTRODUCTION Stereotyping, or mentally grouping people based on personal character-istics and then assigning traits to members of each group, is a pervasivehuman phenomenon. Although seemingly harmless at first glance,excessive reliance on stereotypes can cause problems:

1. Stereotyping may lead to prejudice and discrimination. If peopledid not engage in stereotyping, perhaps they would exhibit moretolerance and understanding toward each other.

2. Although a given stereotype may accurately describe the averagemember of a group, it rarely applies to all group members. Whenwe stereotype people on the basis of any dimension of diversity(e.g., sex, race, age, education, or income), we may overlook themas individuals.

3. Stereotypes imply that differences between members of differentgroups are a result of their group membership. This is virtually

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Author’s Note: This exercise was prepared by Michael London and Joy A. Schneer.© Michael London and Joy A. Schneer. Used with permission.

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impossible to prove. For example, when we consider whethera sex difference is present in some type of ability, attitude, orbehavior, we need to distinguish between two questions: “Is therea difference between the sexes?” and “Is there a difference onaccount of sex?” Answering the first question is relatively simple;it involves only testing and comparing populations of men andwomen. Answering the second question (i.e., Are differencesinnate and due to sex alone?) involves testing and comparingpopulations of men and women who have been living underidentical environmental conditions. Due to differences in thesocialization of girls and boys, these conditions are not presentin any culture.

The purpose of this exercise is to examine the influence ofgender stereotypes on your perceptions of others. Gender stereo-types are beliefs about the psychological traits that men and womenpossess. According to gender stereotypes, women are more likely topossess feminine traits such as compassion, gentleness, warmth, andunderstanding, whereas men are more likely to possess masculinetraits such as dominance, independence, aggressiveness, and risktaking. Gender stereotypes have remained essentially stable overthe years, despite considerable changes in the social roles of adultmen and women. However, as you may discover in this exercise, thefact that people may agree does not mean that stereotypes apply toeveryone.

PROCEDURE 1. Find a partner with whom you have had very little contact,preferably a member of the opposite sex. (5 minutes)

2. Complete the Gender-Based Perceptions Worksheet. (20 minutes)

3. Participate in a discussion based on the following questions:(remaining time)

a. In what ways did you and your partner stereotype each other?

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b. Which of your own stereotypes were challenged?

c. What dimensions of diversity may have influenced yourpredictions?

d. What stereotypes about members of your own sex affect yourinteractions with others in daily life and work settings? Howdo these stereotypes affect you?

e. How do the stereotypes that you hold affect your interactionswith others?

REFERENCE Powell, G. N., & Graves, L. M. (2003). Women and men in management (3rded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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20 MANAGING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE

GENDER-BASED PERCEPTIONS

WORKSHEET

Instructions:

1. Find a partner with whom you have had very little contact.

2. Record your agreement with each statement on this worksheet according to the followingscale (Column 1):

Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TotalDisagreement __________________________________________________________ Agreement

3. Predict the rating that your partner gave to each statement (Column 3).

4. Share and record your ratings and predictions (Columns 2 and 4).

5. Compute and total the absolute differences between the two sets of ratings and predictionsto determine prediction accuracy (Columns 5 and 6).

1 2 3 4 5 6

AbsoluteDifference AbsoluteBetween Difference

Your Your 1 and 2: BetweenPartner’s Prediction Accuracy 3 and 4:

Your Prediction of Your Your of Your AccuracyOwn of Your Partner’s Partner’s Partner’s of Your

Statement Rating Rating Rating Rating Predictions Predictions

1. I ask for directions whenI am lost.

2. I find it easy to talkabout my feelings.

3. I make time every dayfor leisure activities.

4. I believe that a mothershould take a careerbreak to be at homewith her young children.

5. I regularly spend time toget my hair just right.

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21Gender-Based Perceptions

6. I avoid movies that haveviolence in them.

7. A husband should earnmore than his wife.

8. I don’t let peopleinterrupt me whenI am talking.

9. I feel more comfortabletalking to men thanto women.

10. Talking on my cellphone is one of myfavorite things to do.

11. My career is the mostimportant thing in my life.

12. I like to shop at the mall.

13. I offer advice whensomeone tells me abouta problem.

14. People should alwaysbe nice.

15. I would not want to havea woman for a boss.

Total = Total =

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