Stereotype Threat

While there is no fixed standard of addressing stereotype threats (similar to the case of microaggressions), the resources that follow should help you brainstorm ways in which you can develop your own intervention strategies while building self-awareness. 

Defining Stereotype Threat 

Acclaimed psychologist and Professor at Stanford University Claude M Steele is at the vanguard of stereotype threat research. In 1995, Steele along with his colleague Joshua Aronson published a landmark study that introduced and defined stereotype threat as “being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group” (pg. 797). When this threat is manifested in the classroom, whether intentional or not, could result in academic underperformance. 

A series of talks and lectures defining stereotype threat and its application to minority student academic performance are available on Dr. Steele’s website (claudesteele.com/talks/).  The talks on his website include, among others:

  • How Stereotypes Affect Us. Talk hosted by WGN Forum Network on May 25, 2010

  • Identity and Stereotype Threat: Their Nature and What to do About Them at School and Work. Talk hosted by Columbia University on December 20, 2010

  • Stereotype Threat Up Close: See It, Fix It. Talk hosted by UC Santa Barbara on February 7, 2013

  • Claude Steele explains impact of stereotype threat on achievement.  Talk hosted by Cornell University on April 11, 2013

  • Stereotype Threat: How it affects us and what we can do about it. Talk hosted by UC Berkeley on June 16, 2014

Mitigating Stereotype Threat Tools  

  • Understanding the Stereotype Threat by Berkeley Advising Matters. Enlists seven different ways to support students from different backgrounds. Although academic advisors are the target audience for this resource, the contents and tips to mitigate stereotype threat are applicable in classroom settings.  

  • Stereotype Threat Handout generated by VPTL’s Identity in the Classroom Learning Community at Stanford University. Provides examples of how the stereotype threat targets students from different sociaoeconomic status, genders, linguistic backgrounds, age groups, and races. Describes four main strategies to reduce its presence in the classroom followed by a sample course assignment. 

Additional Stereotype Toolkits 

Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia offers five inclusive teaching principles derived from research and evidence-based practices. Includes discussions on microaggressions and stereotype threat.

Scholarship and Research

Aronson, J., Fried, C. B., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(2), 113-125.

Notes

Definition Source:

Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797–811.