Assignment Organizational Behavior

Question:  Have your stereotypes misled you while

judging others?
What is stereotyping?
    Stereotyping is creating the first image of a person basis on first appearance or basis on old
says which we see around from childhood.

Now the question is, have your stereotypes misled you while judging others? I currently
cannot think where I stereotyped someone, but I have one incident that I can recall where a group
of people stereotyped and misjudged me.

Case:
I am from Jaipur, Rajasthan. I used to travel by city bus for college commute. One day, When I
am returning home from college with my friends, one father is there on the bus. He started
talking to us, asking are you an engineering student, and started a general talk. Then he asked us
his daughter also wants to pursue engineering, so what all colleges and branches she can opt for.
 
My friends started suggesting colleges and branches. My Friends began by saying she is a girl so
she must take computer science, E&TC. I was not too fond of this, so I interrupted and stated
that she must go with her interest area for branch selection if she likes machinery, she must
choose Mechanics. If she is interested in computers, she must select computer science. All my
friends started laughing at me, Person sitting there who asked for this info also started laughing,
and I could not understand why they are laughing at me.

 I questioned them what is wrong here why you all are laughing. The father then told me that
mechanical is not the branch for girls. Then I again questioned why? Father replied that handling
big machines is not the girl's cup of tea. I objected this is not correct. Anyone can do whatever
they want. There is no gender discrimination in choosing a branch.

My friends then started saying there will be machines with high load, lots of tools which are very
tough to operate. I Opposed this and told them that girls can also handle machines and tools, and
they do similar tasks in their daily lives. They do many things that are also not easy and require
lots of strength, like changing gas cylinders, Filling Water, Washing Clothes. These jobs also
require a lot of power and careful handling of things.

Still, my friends and that father laughed at me and made fun of me. I felt terrible that day why
they cannot understand my point and making fun of me.

Stereotyping Element in Above case.

1. Father stereotyped old thoughts girls can't handle machines and tools. He has a cultural
group impact on his thought about girls' education.

2. My Friends are educated, still due to the cultural group impact. They also possess the
same stereotype thought girls couldn't handle machines and tools. Due to their support, I
think the father could not understand this thing as most people talked the same thing he
heard from childhood.