Definition of stereotypes and social patterns

            Stereotypes are a generalization or assumptions made by people about another group of people and can be based on age, ethnicity, gender or race. On the other hand, social patterns refers to the classification of individuals according to the social information given.

Difference between social patterns and stereotypes in gender and racial discrimination

            The main difference between social patterns and stereotypes is that, for social patterns, individuals use the information they have in order to categorize people whereas for stereotypes, it is based on beliefs about a certain group of people. The examples listed below about gender and racial discrimination explain more about the differences between the two categories(stereotypes and social patterns).

Discrimination refers to the unequal treatment of people or groups on basis of their race and ethnicity. Discrimination takes place in various places such as work and education sector. Gender differences in education are a type of sex discrimination in the education system and it has affected both men and women either during or after educational experiences (Alesina et al., 2018). Men tend to receive more education than women and this creates a gender gap which is difficult to fill. In addition, we find that men are the ones who secure the high management jobs. Gender based discrimination in the education sector around the world is mainly determined by minority status, poverty, early marriages, gender based violence and early pregnancies.

Gender discrimination also exists in households. Some parents tend to spend differently based on the gender of their children. A research was conducted in Nepal and it was found out that the education expenditure spent on boys is about twenty percent less compared to that of girls. Parents were willing to spend more money so that they could take their boys to private schools for better education. The situation was similar in both rural and urban areas. Hidden curriculums increases level of discrimination in the educational system. The hidden curriculum deploys the idea that class, race and gender have a great influence on the lessons that are taught in schools.

In one of the US histories, they emphasize on the various roles that the white males played in the development of the country .The roles included the participation in both world war one and two Cultural norm is also a factor that has led to sex discrimination (Ellemers, 2018). A large percentage of the communities who practice their culture to date, marry off their daughters to older men. They have perceived the notion that education is only for the boys whereas, the girls are ‘wife materials’ who should stay home doing house chores.

Moreover, gender discrimination is demonstrated in developed countries whereby, women are underrepresented in certain fields such as sciences, mathematics, technology and engineering. Most of the companies who have big projects prefer men to women as they believe that men are more professional in their work than the females.

During the scramble and partition for African countries in the colonial times, different European nations colonized their countries of choice. They took over all the marked territories, settled in the lands that were fertile and made the Africans work for them (Wilson et al., 2020). Discrimination against races was evident when the African people did not receive treatment from the hospitals established by the European nations. To date, some of the black Americans living in the states are discriminated because of their color. Grading bias in schools against boys. Discrimination against the males comes in handy when they are being graded. Many teachers tend to feel that they are more connected to the girls more than the boys. In return this makes the boys to receive a lower grade than the girls because of the teachers’ grading system bias.

Social patterns can be similar to social categorization in that the individuals are grouped based on the social information held about them. The categorization takes part in three forms, by gender, race and age. Once determined, our social categorization of others shapes downwards evaluation and behavior. Stereotypic association can cause harm to the categorized individuals such as shooting of an individual who belongs to a racial group stereotyped to be hostile. Social categorization has led to activation of attitudes such as negative attitudes about black individuals which has exerted strong impact on behavior often in unintended ways.

Some features that give rise to social categorization include, the shape of the facial features, skin color and hair. Particular categories of memberships may be perceived as normal or default values within the culture. In American culture being white is normal unlike being black due to the relative infrequency of blacks. Social categorization is present in fields such as employment, housing among others.

When it comes to employment in the European countries, some significant disparities remain even though there have been gains in labor force of the racial minorities. The whites are likely to be employed especially in large companies compared to the African Americans. Wages that the whites are paid are higher. Research has it that there are racial discrepancies unaccounted for by human capitals who have observed it. The 'blacks' have been found to take more time looking for work, experience unstable employment and acquire less work familiarity.

Residential segregation still remains a salient feature in American cities.Segragation of African Americans began during the colonial times in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The level of segregation had been unaffected due to the rise in socioeconomic status. However, the segregation decreased in order for the blacks to experience patterns of residential placement from different whites. Moreover, research conducted through telephone audits directs to a class and gender element of racial discrimination. The ‘blacks’ who speak in a mode related to a lower class bring about suffering resulting  to a higher level of judgment than those in the middle class. It is evident that discrimination in housing markets and rentals still remains pervasive.

To add to that, during colonial times,  Africans were used as slaves in most of the west African countries. Africans were used as slaves as they were believed to be prone to some of the diseases. Their masculinity enabled them to perform hard tasks and their complexion enabled them to be easily noticeable this they could hardly escape (Lubua et al., 2017). The whites have also been found to possess wealth that is twelve times that of the blacks. The blacks face more denial and in securing mortgages, less affordable terms are offered to them compared to those of the whites. Blacks also paid advanced interest rates on house mortgages. The situation perseveres with control of the income levels, the purchase date and the age of the buyer.

Structural conditions can be defined as things that can be measured and that can contribute to any form of inequality (wealth, occupation, poverty). Structural conditions have systematically influenced the choices people have made and guide people on their behavior (Chenoweth et al., 2017). The structural conditions help a person to know his location in the social structure that is his or her social class,  the social status , the culture , social institution they belong to , the roles  he or she plays. The structural conditions have impacted the lives of people by enabling them to know the importance of pursuing goals. They have also enabled individuals to prepare themselves to accept their role and adapt to their norms.