- Ethnic and Gender Issues in Learning and Academic Performance
See Claude Steele, Thin Ice: "Stereotype Threat" and Black College Students.
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Article Summary:
-
Findings
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• Among the highest achieving African
American students
(or those who had a stronger academic identity and skills), the fear of
being associated with a negative stereotype impaired academic
performance
and diminished test performance even when preparation, ability,
self-confidence
or motivation were high.
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• Even among European American male
students, stereotype-threat
impaired performance. When these students were told that a test
they
were about to take was one on which Asian American students generally
outperformed
European Americans, the European American male students performed at
lower
levels.
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• When instructors stressed that a
test-taking task was
not a measure of a person’s intellectual ability, but
rather
an opportunity to study how certain problems are generally solved, the
African American students’ performance on the test rose to match that
of
equally qualified European Americans.
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• When African American students were
convinced that
an exam was “race-fair” (in other words, they trusted that the exam was
fair and not race-biased), they performed on par with their European
American
counterparts.
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• Fostering racial trust in schooling
situations positively
affected African American students' performances.
Recommendations
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• Explicitly tell students that you are using
high standards
(this signals that any criticism reflects standards rather than race).
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• Tell them that your assessment of their
performance
(e.g., reading of their report, observations of their
problem-solving
skills, etc.) leads you to believe that they can meet those high
standards
(this signals that you do not view them stereotypically).
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• Find ways to create racially integrated
“living and
learning” communities where students focus on academic work, where
students
have outlets for discussing the “personal” side of college life and
where
students’ abilities are affirmed.
David M. Marx, Allport's
Legacy and the Situational Press of Stereotypes
Article Summary:
Findings
-
• Whether participating in an event or
performing a task
that is both important and one in which a negative stereotype may
apply,
the fear of experiencing negative treatment based on that stereotype
may
lead to discomfort and distraction.
• Some students may “disidentify” with the event or task to avoid the threat associated with the stereotype.
• The “stereotype threat is a situational threat, not dependent on any internalized belief in the stereotype, and is potentially experienced by anyone who is part of a group for which some negative stereotype applies.”
• The "threat may be more severe for students who are strongly identified with schooling than for less school-identified students.”
• When confronted with stereotype threat inducing conditions (difficult math exam), women test takers “underperformed” , but performed well when threat was removed (difficult literature exam, easy math exam, and difficult math exam presented as gender fair).
• “The situational threat of negative
stereotypes is sufficient
to impair test performance even among groups that are not chronically
stereotyped
negatively in the domain” (e.g., whites students underperforming with
threat
of Asian-biased test).
• “Stereotype-disconfirming” evidence
minimizes the threat
(e.g., woman proctoring difficult math exam).
Recommendations
-
• Explicitly tell students that exams are
racially fair.
• Convey high standards and tell students that your assessment of their performance (e.g., reading of their report, observations of their problem-solving skills, etc.) leads you to believe that they can meet those high standards (this signals that you do not view them stereotypically).
• Increase the presence of women and minority instructors who are perceived as competent (this provides stereotype-disconfirming evidence for students).
Developed by Lois A. Reddick