One of the primary challenges to achieving diversity is our tendency to rely on stereotypes, which can be so ingrained that we may not even recognize when we’re using them.

The human brain relies on categorization to process and organize our daily experiences. Without these mental categories, our perceptions would be chaotic and fragmented, filled with an overwhelming array of disconnected information and sensations. Categories help us make sense of the world and provide a quick, shorthand method for responding to people and situations.

However, these mental categories are not purely factual; they also carry inherent meanings and evaluations. Our perceptions of these categories are influenced by our personal feelings, which can be either positive or negative. Thus, simply referring to a category can trigger an immediate, almost instinctive reaction.

While categories are not a problem in and of themselves, they become a problem when we cannot distinguish between the characteristics of a category and the characteristics of an individual item, or individual person, within that category. Put another way, the category turns into a stereotype when we can no longer see an individual tree, but only see the forest. When we assume that all trees within a forest are identical, and cannot see that each individual tree has some characteristics in common with the others, that is when our category turns into a stereotype.

A common defense is, “Stereotypes are sometimes true.” Stereotypes, by their very definition, cannot always be true. For example, think of the stereotype that all African-American men are good at basketball. Some African-American men may be very good at this sport, but there are certainly African-American men out there who are not good at this sport. Therefore, for the man who is good at basketball, that is simply an attribute of his character, not proof that all African-American men are the same as he is.