Page 103 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

4. CROUP-LEVEL EXPLANATIONS
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is doomed to failure" (p. 57). Token status implies preferential treatment,
which also may lead to negative consequences and stereotyping of the mi­
nority employee. Like solos, tokens are often assumed to be incompetent
(see chapter 15) and experience exclusion and isolation in the workplace.
Some minority members unfortunately face the negative implications of
both solo and token status. Pettigrew and Martin (1987) concluded that a
critical mass constitutes roughly 20% and that organizations dealing with
small numbers of minority employees should cluster rather than scatter
minorities throughout, in order to lessen the negative impact of isolation
and exclusion often experienced by women and people of color at work.
More recently, Niemann and Dovidio (1998) studied the relationship
between solo status for racial and ethnic minorities and feelings of distinc­
tiveness and job dissatisfaction. The authors defined distinctiveness as feel­
ings of high visibility, encapsulation in one's role, feeling highly contrasted
from other workgroup members, and being stereotyped and viewed pri­
marily in terms of category membership. They hypothesized that feelings
of distinctiveness would be closely associated with awareness of stigmati­
zation and feelings of vulnerability, which in turn would adversely affect
job satisfaction. They also argued that solo status and feelings of distinc­
tiveness could heighten the salience of negative stereotypic expectancies, a
phenomena known as stereotype threat (Steele, 1997). Research on stereo­
type threat has shown that when minority group members are made aware
of existing negative stereotypes toward their group, the threat of possibly
behaving in such a manner as to confirm existing stereotypes is enough
to impede performance (Steele & Aronson, 1995). As predicted, Niemann
and Dovidio (1998) found that minority faculty members with solo status
within their departments felt more distinctive and were less satisfied with
their jobs. More specifically, their results suggest that "the daily experi­
ences of minority faculty in predominantly White institutions, in which
African Americans and Hispanics represent less than 3% of faculty, may
be affected by stereotypic biases and feelings of vulnerability" (p. 66).
Effects of Composition on Minority Success In situations where minority
group members represent a very small percentage of the workforce, group
status becomes exaggerated. Stereotypes and group bias likely become ex­
aggerated as well, particularly when minority members are perceived as
a threat to the status quo. Under such conditions, minority members are
faced with unrealistically high or low expectations, are highly scrutinized
and criticized, and experience feelings of distinctiveness, isolation, exclu­
sion, and stereotype threat. All of these feelings may negatively affect work
relationships, performance, and organizational commitment.
Other significant barriers to success when minority group representa­
tion is low include perceived limits to upward mobility and the lack of