The stereotypes people hold of individuals carry over into the world of work, with significant implications for vocational choice, recruitment and selection.
Bombarded with stimuli from every direction, it is not surprising that human observers with finite cognitive resources resort to categorical thinking to simplify incoming information. The problem is, this often manifests itself in a tendency to group individuals on the basis of social categories including race, gender and age. Further, such categories are often imbued with associations and expectations—aka stereotypes—which perceivers use to form impressions and judgments of others.
One little discussed sub-category of stereotypes is ‘occupational stereotypes’—collections of traits or attributes with which individuals associate members of different occupations. In this article we will describe our research into these stereotypes, showing who they effect, how they lead to segregation and their implications for society.