Stereotype Threat

A stereotype can be defined as a widely held belief about a particular group of people. Women, AHNs, transfer students, first-generation students and other groups face stereotypes in their daily lives and in the classroom. Negative stereotypes often hold that these groups lack intelligence, competence, or the ability to perform in a classroom setting (Meadows et al., 2015). For example, some negative stereotypes claim that women and AHNs possess less intelligence and competence (Meadows et al., 2015; Stoddard & Pfeifer, 2018; Wolfe et al., 2016) and that they have only been accepted into STEM programs due to policies that favor historically underrepresented groups (Meadows et al., 2015). Although demonstrably untrue, these negative stereotypes are harmful to students and can result in a phenomenon called stereotype threat.

Stereotype threat occurs when students are conscious of stereotypes about their social group (Brown & Pinel, 2003; Hess et al., 2009) and either believe these stereotypes are true (Schmader et al., 2004), or fear their actions might inadvertently confirm and perpetuate negative stereotypes about their group (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Those with low self-esteem have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to stereotype threat (Rydell & Boucher, 2010). Stereotype threat is most commonly induced during stressful activities such as taking an exam (Beilock, 2008). Ability and performance stereotypes that AHNs face affect students in multiple ways. Some may give in to the stereotypes (i.e., “if women aren’t good at math, then what’s the point in trying?”). Others may feel apprehension, pressure, and stress about the necessity of overcoming and disproving these stereotypes (Steele, 1997). Stereotype threat decreases working memory and causes hypervigilance, both of which distract students when they perform important tasks. This pressure to perform may increase anxiety while simultaneously decreasing performance, and achievement (Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021). The negative effects on performance and achievement occur because stereotype threat decreases working memory (Rydell et al., 2014; Schmader & Johns, 2003) and causes hypervigilance (Forbes et al., 2008), both of which distract students when they perform important tasks. Hundreds of experiments have shown that people perform worse when they believe that the test is diagnostic of ability or when they are experiencing any type of stereotype threat (Steele et al., 2002; Steele & Aronson, 1995; Walton & Spencer, 2009). In both instances the stereotypes can cause students to become stressed and unmotivated, which may cause them to underperform in ways that exacerbate achievement gaps.