It has always been very apparent to me that women experience hardships due to the stereotypes that people place on them. However, I did not realize how much the stereotype threats impact women’s performance in the workplace and especially in leadership roles. I was surprised to hear that “stereotype threat tends to have the most deleterious effects on those for whom the stereotype is the most self- relevant and on those who are motivated to perform well” because I would have thought that women who are motivated to perform better would not be as impacted (Hoyt & Murphy 393). I found this very interesting because I did not realize how important breaking the stereotype would be to a woman who wants to succeed in breaking it, making her hyper aware of what others are thinking about her. I think that my biggest takeaway from these readings about stereotypes is the fact that when people are reminded of the stereotype that people could have about them, they are much more likely to fall into that stereotype. I think that there needs to be a lot done in regard to eliminating stereotypes in our culture, especially with my research project being about the Equal Rights Amendment and how it has gone on for too long that women are not recognized in the Constitution for having the same rights as men.
Critical Thinking
I agree with how important it is to eliminate stereotypes in our culture. We’re in such a bubble on campus that I think we sometimes forget what’s really going on out there. There are even stereotypes and biases that are prevalent on campus that no one really addresses.
I agree as well that there needs to be more focus on eliminating stereotypes in our society. I think that the root of the problem is that many people do not believe stereotypes are truly harmful. Instead, some people think that those effected by stereotypes should care less what people think and “get over it.” This clearly is the wrong approach and strategies should be implemented to heal stereotype threats.
I was also shocked about the extent of discrimination and stereotyping against female leadership. However, the most shocking piece was that women don’t seem to be more motivated by these hardships they face in the work place. I wonder if it is because they are scared of not being successful because of the injustice they face or if it is because they do not realize they have to overcome an extra step in order to be deemed “successful” next to their male counterparts.