Marlee and Jason
For this exercise, we are discussing cultural and language stereotypes/assumptions that we see as prevalent in the workplace, or have experienced personally. Jason said that a language stereotype me experienced was when he rented a ZipCar. There was a technical issue and the car would not start so Jason called customer service. Upon hearing his accent, the representative knew he was a foreigner and assumed that he was not following the proper procedure to start the car. The representative talked to Jason very slow, as if he were a child and could not understand her or the instructions. In reality, there was an issue with the car, but the representative assumed that Jason did not know how to follow instructions and that is why the car wouldn’t start. Another example Jason gave was when he was at the USF International Students Office. One of the supervisors there would slow down her speech and give him very detailed instructions, but did not do the same for other people, assuming that Jason needed to comprehend her words slowly and needed more detail in order to understand basic tasks. An example I experienced in the workplace was back in New York when I would work as a caddie, some golf players would assume I didn’t know about golf. I believe this is because of my appearance. Also, some of the stereotypes came up in conversation where they would ask me my favorite sports and assume football and basketball, and ask how I got into golf. They would also ask me if I knew how to read greens or assume I didn’t know, despite my experience. I did not see them ask other caddies of different races these questions.
