Internalized Socialization

Prompt: Give an example of internalized socialization from your own life.

Written by Sabrina Whittaker | Organizational Culture and Ethics

• Did this change you in a positive or negative way?
• Was it an ethical change or another kind of change (e.g., just a matter of personal taste)?
• Do you think that this was a matter of choice or did the group impact you in a way that was beyond your conscious choice?

Early on, a preference for STEM was internalized within me thanks to many local school campaigns and neighborhood programs. Through repeated exposure, I developed the idea that I could escape poverty if I prioritized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics above other subjects. To support this idea, I considered how highly the poorest members of my community praised art and otherwise creative pursuits. With the limited information available to me at the time, I felt confident that unfeeling logic trumped emotional intelligence.

As a young girl, my dad worked for AT&T and BellSouth, which meant he had access to new and emerging technology. My father’s obsession with building and networking computers together, coupled with my newfound philosophy, influenced me to pursue a corporate career in information technology that spanned nearly a decade before I pivoted to business operations to become a data analyst. Friends and family describe me as a hilarious, albeit intense, workaholic.

Shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic resigned us to our homes, #BlackLivesMatter protestors filled the streets to protest police brutality. To bring awareness to the issue, many persons and organizations shared articles about the history of race and sociopolitical issues in the United States and how it’s affected nearly every facet of American culture. I’d heard many of these stories before, but never so frequently or passionately. I felt compelled to improve socioeconomic conditions for African Americans like myself, so in response, I began researching how culture affects career and entrepreneurial success in the United States. Eventually, I wrote an interdisciplinary degree proposal combining business and culture to support and reflect my interest.

Ideally, the values and beliefs of the organizations I work with align with those I’ve internalized. Like most others, I believe it is unethical and unhelpful to misrepresent data or otherwise mislead people, especially within an organization that reaches a large audience. The alternative would negatively impact the well-being of the organization and its members. As a result, I expect honesty, respect, and hard work; the same is true for most others. According to the excerpt, 82% of Americans would prefer to be paid less but work for an ethical company than work for an unethical company at a higher rate. In other words, American employees much prefer working for a strongly aligned ethical culture within organizations.

My background in technology and business heavily influences my interests and work. I consider this to be a good thing. However, I recognize that some of the values and beliefs I hold about success were adopted through acculturation and do not align with the cultural group I aim to positively affect. I live a relatively privileged life compared to my childhood neighbors. I frequently return to help however I’m able. Although I’ve worked very hard to get where I am, I’m sure the impact of engrained subconscious beliefs from the overarching American culture affects my sense of ethics. A portion of what I currently study is whether a hyper-focus on STEM subjects puts you in a better position for growth or is more representative of an insufficient appreciation of culture and the arts.