Introverts in an Extroverts’ World

By Erin K.

Imagine waking up early after a late night and having a busy day ahead of you. The feeling of dread and exhaustion is similar to the feeling that fills the hearts of introverts when they are expected to be loud with their opinions and push their ideas forward.

Introverts’ minds are set up in a way that makes them want to be in solitude and figure things out themselves. Unfortunately, people take this action as a sign of being shy, but introverts are not necessarily shy. Anna Haas puts it this way: “Shyness is more a fear of social judgment, while introversion is when a person prefers to be in quieter and more solitary environments.” This fact is not well known among teachers and is a big reason why introverts are feeling bad about what they do. Susan Cain shares her feelings as an introvert on her Ted Talk titled, The Power of Introverts; “All the time, I got the message that somehow my quiet and introverted style of being wasn't necessarily the right way to go, and that I should try to pass as more of an extrovert." Unfortunately, this is how lots of introverts feel when their teachers push and prod them to be more talkative. In the article, “Do Introverts Suffer From Anxiety?” it says, “Still, for many introverts, anxiety is a regular part of their lives.”

A third to a half of the population are introverts, so then why do they feel so persecuted? With so many introverts out there we should have an equal balance in every area of introverts and extroverts. Pete Ross says in his article about introverts, “Management research has also confirmed that introverts are much less likely than extroverts to be groomed for leadership positions, even though another Wharton study led by Professor Adam Grant found that introverted leaders outperform extroverted ones when managing proactive employees.” What this means is that even though at least one out of every three people is an introvert, the world is still lifting up extroverts to lead our lives.

So why is this happening? Extroverts love to feed off of open communication, but introverts feed off of personal reflection. This is why when we are choosing people for positions in society we tend to gravitate towards the bubbly, confident, loud person, and tend to find the quieter one not worthy or able of a lead role. A dean mentioned in Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,  said, “...So we find that the best man is the one who had an 80 or 85 average in school and plenty of extracurricular activity.” Unfortunately, this opinion is shared among lots of employers. A  survey in 2019 showed that not even half of the respondents said that they would hire and promote an introvert. This is a shockingly low number considering that at least a third of the population are introverts.

          Unfortunately, people are not only doing this to adults as schools also share the same bias. The way teachers teach their class is mainly focused on being in groups and working through assignments as a group.  Schools are meant to prepare children for the real world, but all the emphasis on group work isn’t really what the real world is like. Alison Green writes about this in her article, “No, Group Work in school is not ‘just like in the real work world.’”  “I don’t know why schools have put such an emphasis on this because group work in school is really, really different than working on a group project at work.” Communication skills are great to learn, but when every class has time for working as a group on something that could be done individually then it isn’t fully replicating the real world that teachers are preparing students to go into. Our schools used to be in rows, and teachers used to make kids work on their own, but now, in a great effort to try to include group work in as many things as possible, teachers have lost the focus of their students, and even worse, they’ve taken the confidence away from introverts to be themselves.

Teachers are mainly extroverts, which is why so many introverts can relate to Susan Cain’s feeling of denial. Collaborative work may be enjoyable, but it degrades our independent understanding. Independent comprehension is a necessary thing. Dr. Montessori shares the necessity of independent comprehension: "The child has to acquire physical independence by being self-sufficient; he must become independent and will be using in freedom his own power of choice; he must become capable of independent thought by working alone without interruption…” When teachers assign group work all the time, it really suggests that the teacher doesn’t have a clear vision of what they want out of group work. In Holly Welham’s article, “Group Work is Overused in Schools, and in my Experience it Stifles Good Ideas,” she says, “Without really looking at the disadvantages of these techniques, schools were mandating that group work should be used in nearly every lesson.” This further emphasizes the point that group work should be applied at moderate levels and not consume every class.

We should not completely abandon group work; we should really consider the necessity of group work. In his article, “Why Collaboration Doesn’t Work,” Peter DeWitt says, “Why are we collaborating in the first place? If we can’t answer that, then we shouldn’t move on.” If we have lost sight of our goal in group work, then it is pointless. The world needs a change in the school systems’ ability to incorporate all spectrums of learning.