<p>Things like race and gender have an effect, either consciously or subconsciously, on almost everyone. </p>
<p>For example, a car saleswoman would probably be less successful than a car salesman because people feel more comfortable with men selling cars. In fact, I think most people would feel uncomfortable with a woman trying to sell them a car, as stereotypically, women know nothing about cars. And since men are often the main breadwinners, men make the final decisions on what to buy.</p>
<p>Another example: Consider a scenario with a male employee and a female employee, both married, spouses employed, same number of children, same total income, etc. Both employees request more hours. The employer will tend to think that the guy needs more money to support his family, while the female employee just wants more spending money to buy a Coach bag or jewelry. People tend to have a belief that men are breadwinners and women spend money on frivolous things. </p>
<p>As for race, Black people are stereotyped as dumb, Hispanic as illegal/cheap labor, and Asians as weak and nerdy. These stereotypes hurt minorities a lot, especially in promotion to management. Even if employers are not prejudiced, they worry that the low-level employees might be and would resent having to report to a Black/Hispanic/Asian manger.</p>