Oh my.

It is amazing that not one exception to the sexist, racist assumptions slipped through. And you haven't picked an unrepresentative sample, I just looked at the website.

This post is truly disappointing! Of course it seems that the website is perpetuating stereotypes about the people who do each of these jobs because only a few examples were posted (in fact, ones that confirmed expected stereotypes).

But what about these?:

An older man of color as the psychologist http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos056.htm

An older (ostensibly) white woman as the lawyer http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm

A younger man of color as the physical therapist http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos080.htm

It seems that the stereotyping in this post is being perpetrated by Sociological Images, not necessarily the US Government.

Teachers and Teachers' Assistants is perhaps another nice example (and of course Executive and Executive Assistant).

On the other hand, see the photos for Lawyer, Legal Assistant, and Judge. The images for Geologist, Chemist, and Computer Programmer are perhaps somewhat surprising.

On the plus side, the 'Librarian' is an African American woman, and the 'Accountants' are two people, a young white man and an older white woman.
Additionally, the 'Probation Officer' seems to have a very friendly relationship with his client. Good for them!

I looked at "computer and mathematical occupations" because it's a strongly white/asian and male-identified job category. 4 of the 7 images that depict just one person are women. (Of the two others, one depicts one man and one woman and the other depicts two men). In all the images there's one Asian man and one Asian woman; everyone else is white. So they've stuck strongly to racial stereotypes in this job category, but gone strongly against sex stereotypes.

On the other hand, almost all the K-12 teachers and non-doctor healthcare workers are female (I think there was one man in each category).

There's a lot more to be said about how these images are selected, the role of tokenism, etc., but "they're just picking images of stereotypical workers" is an overly simplistic account. Really what's required is to code the images and analyze the numbers.

I really don't see the issue. I looked over various pages, and I really didn't catch some stereotyping vibe on the site. Also, if you read the acknowledgements, the following message is given:

"Photographs were provided by the Department of Labor Photographic Services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also wishes to express its appreciation for the cooperation and assistance of the many organizations and individuals who either contributed photographs or made their facilities available to photographers working for or under contract to the Department of Labor. Situations portrayed in the photographs may not be free of every possible safety or health hazard. Depiction of company or trade name in no way constitutes endorsement by the Department of Labor."

It seems that people simply went to places that would allow them to take photographs. I highly doubt they told the people "No! It has to be an Asian woman painting that woman's fingernails!" They just took pictures of what they found or accepted the pictures they were given. If that image fits some stereotype you have towards a particular group, please try to not get mad and instead think about how that may just be what the photographers found.

it's a tricky thing to achieve satisfying results.

you may want to tweak rather than play it where it lands but you want to reflect what is the typical case for people to see themselves reflected. An obvious propaganda piece is where every image has the quota of one per race, plus a chair and a girl in trad boys roles. would that be more pleasing?

I've seen ESL textbooks where well-meaning placed overtly nationally typical names in roles in dialogues that immigrant workers typically aren't in. it was meant to encourage, but it came across as a remark on the disparity between national myth and the lived reality in the room and seemed out of touch or satirical.

Um, that caption about sociologists... what? lol

Other than that, I have nothing new to say.

Just a little nit-picky note: Don't call a PA a "Physician's Assistant" - the job title is Physician Assistant - They are not an assistant to a physician, and usually will replace a physician in an office setting.

Unfortunately, these simply reflect the reality in America -- a pretty accurate representation of the genders and ethnicities of the individuals who perform these various jobs (though arguably, with the images being B+W, in some cases it's hard to tell whether someone might be Latino or 'white'). If this series is about who does what jobs at this moment in time -- then, much as we might like to question it, I'm sure that statistics will support this as an accurate representation (not a stereotype). If it was a series encouraging aspiration, or marketed at children e.g., that would be a different story. But sometimes it better serves debate to have accurate representations we can question and discuss, rather than PC wishful thinking.
Also, have to agree that the caption about sociologists is very random -- I don't see 'contempt' there at all?? Lively discussion perhaps?

I'm impressed with the quality of the photos. They're well composed and well lit, without the glare of an in-camera flash unit.

I think it's kind of interesting how camera angle is combined with gender in these photos.

There is no way that's a photo of actual sociologists. We don't wear suits/ties. Like, ever. And among sociologists of the age group pictured, men certainly wouldn't outnumber women!

The big black bald man as a security guard.
I am suprised no one said anything about that.
I see that in almost every movie. ig black man as security because nothing makes you question going in more than a scary negro WITH a badge! *gasp*

On the subject of job stereotyping --
The site tends to overwhelmingly focus on the negative, so thought I'd throw in a positive note (even if sponsored by L'oreal, ugh)...promoting women's participation in science...

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/tools_tips/outreach/loreal_wis_2009

How do we feel about this kind of thing? Effective or hypocritical?

Where are the Asian-Americans? They exist too!

very informational pictures, thanks for giving information and sharing with us.

Aren't these photographs of actual people who actually hold these jobs? If not, aren't they people who might be qualified enough to hold those jobs? I don't understand the problem.

Maybe the website could ask you what your age/race/nationality/gender is before entering the site, and they could have customized photos using your data to totally represent you. Better yet, they could have you upload a head-shot that they place over every picture so you feel like you are able to obtain any job you want.