Stereotype Threat Theory and First-Generation Students: Strategies for Faculty Presented by / Anna Plemons. PhD Critical Literacies Achievement and Success Program How might you help a First Generation Student become more confident in his/her academic abilities? What are some practices that have been used in the past that have helped students focus on their academics? Washington State University

“We thought we all needed to be there for freshman orientation — the whole family, for the entirety of it...They’d used all their vacation days from work and had been saving for months to get me to school and go through our orientation.”

Two Dangers in Facilitating This Conversation Use stereotypes that hyper-define and/or over-determine differences between First-Generation Students (FGS) and their peers Sanitize differences so that real and concrete challenges are muted and/or made invisible There is no monolithic First-Generation Student, but many FGS share some common characteristics.

https://youtu.be/W2bAlUKtvMk Stereotype Threat Eva https://youtu.be/W2bAlUKtvMk

Stereotype Threat The threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype Fear of doing something that will inadvertently confirm a stereotype Linked to diminished performance based on the associative psychological stress From Steele, C. (1999). Thin Ice. Atlantic Monthly. 282(2).

The Data Anna The Effects of Stereotype Threat on the Standardized Test Performance of College Students (adjusted for group differences on SAT), From J. Aronson, C.M. Steele, M.F. Salinas, M.J. Lustina - Readings About the Social Animal, 8th edition, E. Aronson

Focus instead on Identity Contingencies Cues in the environment that change particular identities into threat-inducing contingencies Black students on intelligence test Female students in the sciences White male students on math test as compared to Asian males The more the student cares about their performance, the more acute stereotype threat’s negative impact Anna

Contingent Classrooms “From an observer’s standpoint, the situation of a boy and a girl in a math classroom or of a black student and a white student in any classroom are essentially the same. The teacher is the same; the textbooks are the same; and in better classrooms, these students are treated the same. Is it possible, then, that they could still experience the classroom differently, so differently in fact, as to significantly affect their performance and achievement there?” (92) Anna from “A Threat In The Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance.”

Contingency Cues Stereotype threat is not the threat of prejudice alone; it’s the threat of contingencies, or possible outcomes, based on environmental cues. –ist vs. –ism “Could it be that these cues – often innocent-appearing cues that seemed to be natural, unavoidable ingredients of a situation— regulate how much identity threat a person feels?” (139) How does the environment outside of the classroom shape contingent identities that students then carry into the classroom?

Stereotype Threat Reduction in stereotype threat supports an open, relaxed posture for learning and improves academic performance. What did Steele illustration? All he did was add a comment that women do well in this test. As a teacher, this is exciting because it’s a matter of disciplining yourself to cue the environment, and costs almost no time or money. From Steele, C. (1999). Thin Ice. Atlantic Monthly. 282(2).

Stereotype Threat What specific stereotypes are constructed about First Generation students, implicitly or not, on our campus?

Stereotype Threat What stereotype threats might there be in a Math classroom?

Cues and Clues 1. Make the rules explicit whenever and wherever possible “Parents usually participate in the first day of orientation, then leave campus.” 2. Diffuse stereotype threat with environmental cues “This is a difficult assignment. Most students really struggle with it the first time through.” 3. Encourage a malleable view of intelligence “Academic reading is really challenging, but the more you do it the easier it gets. Its like a muscle. When I was first in grad school…” Let’s get into working groups and take a few minutes to provide real-life examples of changes we can make to cue and clue FGS. Ask the group to share.