Bridging the Gap, Building the Future

Corporate lawyer Van Dang faced an unusual challenge in her climb up the career ladder. As a native-Vietnamese woman in Los Angeles, some might expect that her story is one of overcoming discrimination. But, in Dang’s case, it was almost exactly the opposite. She is told from time to time that she isn’t “Asian enough.” According to common belief, Asian women are submissive, quiet, and docile—none of which describe Dang, a vice president and deputy general counsel in the legal department at Cisco Systems, Inc. Although she has laughed off such comments, she recognizes that predisposed expectations of what kind of person she would be based on her outward appearance might have held her back if not for her dynamic personality. And this is part of a much larger problem in our increasingly diverse society—stereotyping.

It just makes sense, adds Sandra Robbie, a writer and producer who worked on the documentary Mendez vs. Westminster. A case in California that challenged school segregation even before the well-known Brown vs. Board of Education, “Diversity puts the business at an advantage because there are more tools to work with,” Robbie says. “I like to look at business like a baseball team. If you bring on only people who play first base, you won’t have anyone in the outfield. It’s the same in business. Bringing in people of different colors and from different backgrounds brings different skills and experiences. Without that, you have a gap in your team.”

Outside of the office environment, it also helps companies to better understand their customers, who also usually represent a variety of backgrounds. In turn, customers see that the people who make up the business look and act like them, which leads to a truer experience and to mutual benefits, says Meskerem Tadesse, president and CEO of management consultant company, The Optimize Group. “The U.S. is the most diverse country. People came from all countries to make this great country. Diversity is not only morally right, but it’s also smart, business-wise,” Tadesse says. “At the end of the day, companies represent communities—their workforce, their customers come from the community. They have to show that, what we are is what you are. Our wealth is your wealth. As our company grows, the community grows. It is a win-win.”

Ophelia Basgal, vice president of civic partnerships and community initiatives for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, recalls a time when she met with the president of a college in her area. They talked for a while, discussing a mentoring program for Hispanic students that she, Basgal was involved with. At the end of the meeting, the college president told Basgal, “You speak English beautifully.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “[He assumed that] if I spoke Spanish, I must not be able to speak English well.”

“It’s always a wake-up call when you encounter them because you suddenly understand what people see when they see you,” Basgal says.
Though many of us aren’t aware of stereotypes we hold or about stereotypes that may exist about our own gender or ethnicity, they are all around and within us. In fact, they can be a natural process the brain uses to organize information. “It’s how we navigate a big, confusing world,” Robbie says.

The trouble arises when they become exaggerated, preconceived ideas that cause incorrect judgments or limit someone’s advancement. “We all carry around our life experiences,” Basgal says. “It’s our way to make quick decisions, but it can hold people back, prevent us from using all the talents available, and reaching our full potential.”

In addition, Van Kerckhove points out, if there is a positive stereotype about one race or ethnicity, it logically follows that the opposite is implied about people outside of that group. In other words, if Asians are supposedly good with numbers, then Latinos aren’t, and if Latinos are good cooks, then Caucasians must not be, and so on.

“Whether they are negative (“Hispanics don’t speak English well.) or positive (Asians are good at math.), they can be “harmful in deep-rooted ways that a lot of people don’t see as connected,” Robbie says.

Why are Latinas “spicy?”
Figuring out how to overcome the habit of stereotyping starts with understanding where they come from. While there is some evidence that the brain naturally tries to categorize information that only explains the tendency, it doesn’t justify or explain the origin of negative and divisive myths purported as fact. The general consensus here is that stereotypes generally are rooted in misunderstanding and lack of knowledge.

Bridging the gap
Because some of these ideas have existed since the days of Marco Polo and colonization, dispelling them is a feat in itself. These days, however, it seems like the doors of communication are open. “The people I’ve come across are willing to be challenged, willing to say, ‘Okay, I was wrong,’” Dang says.

So, it’s time to start talking, Tadesse, Basgal, Van Kerckhove and Dang agree.

“What is needed is an honest dialogue, communication is key,” Tadesse says. “The conversations have to start at home, at work and in public places with a win-win objective. No one is going to legislate for us to have these conversations.”

While company-based diversity initiatives have increased awareness, the nature of them has changed over the years. According to Van Kerckhove, people are showing signs of “diversity fatigue.” Initial efforts included celebrating diversity—often in the form of heritage month events or other culture-based festivities. “The reason people are tired of [talking about diversity] is because of the context of conversations. For the last 20 years, it has been in an atmosphere of celebration.

“Beyond learning each other’s history, people must make the effort to learn about each other as individuals. It takes time,” Robbie says, but she has seen the most success in dismissing misconceptions when people develop one-on-one relationships.

Tadesse concurs. “We should respect everybody’s culture instead of stereotyping and recognize that there are things we don’t understand and strive to learn. We have to realize, ‘If I don’t know their culture, maybe they don’t understand my culture,’” she says. “It has to happen one person at a time. We have to stop thinking, ‘if they could change,’ because there is no ‘they.’ It is ‘we’ and ‘I.’ If we wait for ‘them’ to change, there will be no change.”

This is to say, the effort must be made by everyone from management to employees, from people of all colors and ethnicities. “Before you can overcome stereotyping, one must first understand what is that they are doing,” says Patricia Parker, president and CEO of Native American Management Services, Inc. “For an organization, it may mean that the leadership must first take a hard look at themselves to make sure they are not modeling that behavior. It doesn’t matter how much training leaders give their staff on cultural competencies because the work environment will not change unless leadership practices what it teaches.”

Dang says, “If you want to change anything, you have to accept responsibility. You can’t change people without changing yourself. I don’t get up in the morning thinking, ‘I’m Asian. Now I’m going to go to work and act like that.’ You can’t think, ‘I’m Asian or Black or Latino, and I’m going to go into the world today and see what wrong is going to be done to me.’ Bad things happen to good people of all colors and ethnicities. Be yourself,” she encourages. “Be aware of your goals and do what you have to do to get there.”

The sooner we all realize we were each born into the same human condition without being able to choose the package in which we arrive, the sooner relations will improve and the next generation will have a better world to live in, Tadesse offers in sum. Ultimately, diversity is a fact, and difference is not equivalent to inferiority, Tadesse and Basgal assert, adding that it may never be a perfect world, but it can be a better one.

“We’ll never walk down the street and not notice that people look different,” Basgal concludes. “But we can create a positive curiosity about people who look different. And if you happen to learn something in the meantime and expand your own boundaries, how can that be bad?”