With every passing day, workplaces in India are becoming increasingly diverse. From employees of all ages, religions, genders, and ethnicities, offices in India have begun to reflect the diversity that the country is known for.
However, even with a diverse team, stereotypes still manage to find their way into workplaces. These stereotypes, if left unaddressed, can begin to impact hiring, appraisals, leadership expectations, and even daily interactions.
In the Aon 2024 Voice of Women Study India, 40% of Indian women reported experiencing bias or insensitive behaviour at work. Often rooted in misguided and ignorant beliefs, these biases can quietly erode innovation, trust, and organisational culture. Though not always overt, stereotypes can easily shape how some people judge competence, potential, and “fit.”
The Common Workplace Stereotypes
Stereotypes are often fixed, oversimplified beliefs about groups of people. Oftentimes, they are assumed to be generalised expectations from people belonging to a particular group. Other times, it can be ignorant beliefs born from systematic discrimination and incomplete or inaccurate information.
Gender Stereotypes
Conscious and unconscious stereotyping based on gender is perhaps one of the most prevalent forms of discrimination in workplaces. Oftentimes, women are considered either less assertive or have it confused with aggressiveness. Similarly, men are often expected to be “emotionally stable.”
Gender-based stereotypes, unlike what many might expect, do not only affect women. While misogynistic stereotypes can hamper women’s progress in the workplace, beliefs borne out of toxic masculinity can similarly lead men to work in harsh conditions.
There is indeed a precedent, though, that women are more severely impacted than men when it comes to gender-based discrimination. Pregnant female employees often see themselves either losing their jobs or being sidelined from major decisions. Combined with societal expectations, gender stereotypes often prove detrimental in more ways than one.
As per a report by Great Place to Work India, only about 26% of the workforce across Indian organisations are women, and only around 8% of CEOs are women. This highlights the structural biases in leadership as well as the undeniably prevalent gender gap in the workforce.
Age Stereotypes
The trend of age-based stereotypes might be new, but it has indeed spread across the nation like wildfire. Younger employees are often labelled as “job-hoppers” with the assumption that they might leave their current job too quickly.
On the other end of the spectrum, older workers are often expected not to be well-versed in technology. Given the rising prevalence of technology in the workplace, this makes many reluctant to hire individuals over a certain age threshold on principle.
As per a 2024 study, about 31% of Indian employees experienced age-related discrimination at work. The flames of age-based stereotypes have also been fanned with the rising popularity of terms like “Gen Z,” “Millennials,” and “Boomers.” Workers in certain age groups are often expected to behave in a particular manner, regardless of their background, personality, or interests.
Cultural and Linguistic Bias
India is home to a diverse array of languages, dialects, and speech patterns. This leads to inevitable variance in communication styles, accents, and colloquialisms even when conversing in the same language.
Unfortunately, this form of mother tongue influence often leads people to form unprompted assumptions about others. People who may not adhere to formal grammar structures are sometimes unfairly judged for their intelligence, regardless of the reality.
Mother tongue influence is also often one of the fastest ways for others to learn about a person’s background. This knowledge can usually lead them also to adopt other stereotypes associated with their ethnicity.
Role-Based Stereotypes
Despite the increasing diversity across industries, many people still tend to default to role-based stereotypes. IT/Tech professionals are often labelled as “geeks” and “introverts.”
Similarly, people in HR may only be seen as “party organisers,” “soft,” and “nosy.” A truly unfortunate attitude is often seen towards “support staff” who many may look down upon, even though their seemingly “minor contributions” form the backbone of any company’s operations.
It is indeed undeniable that every role requires a certain set of skills. However, pigeonholing people based on the same can often lead to lost opportunities, a lack of innovation, and a hostile work environment.
Neurodiversity and Disability Stereotypes
Neurodiverse individuals and People with Disabilities (PwDs) are often underestimated when it comes to their capability or adaptability. Rather than celebrating the mental and physical diversity, many adopt a sceptical attitude towards the results of people who belong to these groups.
More often than not, stereotypes pertaining to neurodiverse people and PwDs are associated with the quality of their work. They either find themselves being severely underestimated or being scrutinised harder than others.
In workplaces that adhere to rigid work structures and resist change, such stereotypes only exacerbate the animosity within the workplace. A lack of adaptability and acceptance of diversity can result in the loss of truly talented individuals.
The Organisational Impact: Why Stereotypes Hurt Business
While indulging in stereotypes does have its moral implications, let’s also discuss the visible impact it can have on an organisation. These stereotypes, no matter what some might believe, remain confined to workplace chatter and are inconsequential.
Such stereotypes often bleed into the decisions made when it comes to work. Someone might get passed over for a promotion simply because of a comment made by another person a few days ago. Another might altogether refuse to entertain individuals from a particular group of people.
- Reduced Innovation: When diverse voices are suppressed, the number of creative solutions presented by a team inevitably decreases.
- Talent Drain: High-performers often leave due to bias fatigue, which increases turnover costs and attrition.
- Skewed Performance Evaluations: Ratings influenced by identity stereotypes lead to unfair appraisals and promotion bias.
- Legal & Reputational Risk: India’s legal system has strict anti-discriminatory measures in place, and stereotyping can easily lead to regulatory penalties and brand damage.
- Cultural fragmentation: Having an “In-group vs out-group” mindset in the workplace sharply decreases team cohesion and workplace inclusion.
The Subtle Ways Stereotypes Show Up
The notion that stereotypes are always presented in a bold and obvious manner is outdated. More often than not, it’s subtle ways in which one consciously or unconsciously showcases their internalised biases that harm workplace cohesion.
Micro-Aggressions
Saying “You speak so well for someone from…” or “I can’t believe you’re really a…” are prime examples of microaggressions that can severely harm a person’s self-confidence. No matter the complimentary nature of the first half of such “compliments,” it’s the second half that truly sticks with the other person.
While one might be trying to showcase that they appreciate someone despite their origins, such statements show that you do judge people based on their origins. That you are pleasantly surprised by something that you do expect to be the norm for others highlights the bias that you have internalised.
Biased Work Assessment
Does your performance evaluation change based on someone’s identity? Does the same action done by a man is labelled as “assertive” in your mind, and yet is considered “aggressive” when done by a female employee?
Often, stereotypes can lead people to judge others based on parameters that may not even affect one’s work. A developer might get judged for their accent, even though it is not related to their work.
Lack of Visibility
Certain groups may not be chosen for high-profile or high-growth assignments solely because of their background, regardless of their qualifications and skills.
From a lack of female representation in leadership to the limited visibility of certain individuals in marketing campaigns, visibility often highlights the stereotypes prevalent in the workplace.
Tokenism
With the rising demand for diversity, tokenism has also become more prevalent. This means that while companies become more inclusive on paper, this does not necessarily translate to real empowerment.
For example, a company may indeed have women as a part of the decision-making group, but their thoughts might get sidelined because of existing gender-based stereotypes. Similarly, although a team may indeed have a young employee as a contributor, their opinions might be devalued due to their inexperience.
“Prove-it-Again” Phenomenon
Prevalent stereotypes often mean that when people from underrepresented groups do commit a feat worthy of appreciation, naysayers deem it as a “fluke.” While a one-time achievement might be enough for others, discriminated individuals might get asked to do the same thing again to prove that they truly did achieve their accomplishment through merit.
For minorities, the need to demonstrate competence repeatedly because of biased assumptions can easily lead to bias fatigue and resentment. Seeing someone else get appreciated for the same work they have also done can easily make them feel disillusioned as an employee.
How Stereotypes Affect Individuals
For individuals facing unfair stereotypes, the toll on their mental health and their performance can be quite high. Even minor instances of discrimination can compound to become immovable obstacles in the midst of their career progression.
- Emotional toll: Anxiety, impostor syndrome, and burnout are some of the most common side effects of people facing stereotypes in the workplace.
- Behavioural adaptation: Some employees overcompensate or mask aspects of their identity to “fit in,” losing a core part of their true selves.
- Performance Impact: The cognitive load from self-monitoring and an imbalance of standards reduces focus and creativity.
Breaking the Cycle: What Organisations Can Do
The best way to break away from the internalised and even unconscious stereotypes is to take active measures that ensure fairness. From hiring to reviewing, each step should be taken to keep diversity, equity and inclusion in mind.
The first step to breaking the cycle is to acknowledge that there might indeed be lingering biases in your mind, as well as in your workplace. While this is indeed human, companies can also take active steps to mitigate such thought processes.
- Bias-Aware Hiring: Use structured interviews, skills-based assessments, and AI review of job description language. A focus on skills and responsibilities, along with insights from an external party, can decrease inbuilt biases.
- Manager and Employee Training: Regular stereotype-awareness workshops and inclusive leadership programs are crucial to reducing the use of stereotypes in both work and non-work-related interactions.
- Anonymous Feedback Channels: Encourage safe reporting of subtle bias or micro-aggressions. Let your employees know that they can indeed voice their complaints without the fear of reprisal.
- Inclusive Policy Design: A diverse workplace requires flexibility in work arrangements. Providing gender-neutral benefits, accessibility support, and inclusive workshops can make a significant difference.
- Measure Inclusion: Track DEI metrics like representation, promotion parity, and inclusion/sentiment scores. What the human eye might refuse to see might become evident when displayed as numbers.
The Path Forward
Stereotypes are learned and are not permanent. As such, they can indeed be unlearned through awareness, accountability and structural change. Whether malicious or not, indulging in stereotypes can often lead to harmful results for others.
A truly fair workplace isn’t just diverse on paper and with names. It’s one where individuals are free from the burden of stereotype-driven judgment. No workplace can be considered truly inclusive until all employees are provided equally fair chances to succeed.
Understand that words do indeed have meaning, and that what may seem like harmless comments can impact someone’s self-worth to an extreme. After all, “an axe forgets but the tree remembers.”
