Working with diverse students: Stereotype threat and solo status Cheryl L. Dickter, College of William and Mary Christine Mallinson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Stereotype Threat “The threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype…” (Steele, 1999)

Black & White undergraduates took the English GRE Diagnostic Condition: – “genuine test of verbal abilities and limitations…” Non-Diagnostic Condition: – “we are researching difficult verbal problems…” Steele & Aronson (1995; Study 1) Stereotype Threat

Steele & Aronson (1995; Study 1) Stereotype Threat

Stereotype Activation: _ _ C E (RACE) _ _ Z Y (LAZY) W E L _ _ _ _(WELFARE) Self-Doubt Activation: D U _ _ (DUMB) F L _ _ _ (FLUNK) W _ _ K (WEAK) Steele & Aronson (1995) Stereotype Threat

Steele & Aronson (1995) Stereotype Threat

Race checklist or no race checklist Race checklist made race salient and activated knowledge of stereotypes Steele & Aronson (1995; Study 4) Stereotype Threat

Steele & Aronson (1995; Study 4) Stereotype Threat

Asking Black Ps to indicate their race before taking a standardized test caused them to: – get fewer items correct – answer fewer items – spend more time on questions – feel significantly more anxiety Steele & Aronson (1995; Study 4) Stereotype Threat

Steele (1997): Women performed worse than men on a difficult math exam if told test showed gender differences favoring men Stereotype Threat

Features of Stereotype Threat 1.Can affect any group 2.Stereotype must be relevant to self 3.Threat variable across different groups and situations. 4.Don’t need to believe stereotype. 5.Trying to disprove stereotype leads to decrease in performance.

Stereotype Threat “The most achievement oriented students, who were also the most skilled, motivated, and confident, were the most impaired by stereotype threat.” (Steele, 1999, p.48). Better students more identified with school, thus try harder Results in distraction, self-consciousness, evaluation apprehension, test anxiety, and loss of motivation.

Solo Status …the experience of being the only member of one’s race or gender present in a group Majority group perceivers view solos with increased scrutiny and bias (e.g., Crocker & McGraw, 1984)

Solo Status The awareness of being the sole member of one’s group is burdensome and has detrimental effects on performance, but does not depend on a stereotype being salient – Disrupts cognitive functioning – Compromises learning and performance Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2003; Saenz, 1994; Sekaquaptewa & Thompson, 2002; Vohs et al., 2005

Reducing Effects of Stereotype Threat and Solo Status Stereotype threat can be alleviated through self-affirmation of self-worth and integrity – Females and Blacks who wrote about a characteristic of themselves they valued performed better on a subsequent math test – Two 15-minute writing exercises at the beginning of a college physics class increased females’ performance (and didn’t hurt males’ scores), especially for those who endorsed the stereotype Cohen et al., 2006; Kost-Smith et al., 2010; Martens, 2006

Reducing Effects of Stereotype Threat and Solo Status Framing social adversity in school as shared and short-lived (attributing adversity to common and transient aspects of adjustment to college, not fixed unique deficits) during freshman year improved GPAs of students, particularly African-Americans Walton & Cohen, 2011

Reducing Effects of Stereotype Threat and Solo Status Providing ingroup scientists as role models improved females’ attitudes, identification, self-efficacy, and career interest in STEM (especially implicit) Black students showed enhanced self-efficacy and performance after hearing about a high performing ingroup member Role models are most effective when they are perceived as similar to targets Professors and guest speakers may serve as effective role models, but exposure can also be virtual Dasgupta, 2011; NSF, 2011

Educational Perspectives Stereotype Threat and Solo Status

What we can see depends heavily on what our culture has trained us to look for. Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2010)

Stereotype Threat “The threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype…” (Steele, 1999)

What students ask themselves about their school culture and climate Am I safe here? Will I be successful here? Is there something in this for me?

What Our Students Report They often experience solo status in classes. Many are still intimidated by office hours. They are trying to find signs as to who are the professors who: – Think they deserve to be here – Will help them on their journey – In a recent survey of more than 50 current and former students that we conducted here at the College of William & Mary, the 45% of students who said that they felt unsupported during college also said that they had felt too intimidated to ask questions, didn’t know where to seek out answers, and didn’t feel that they had the extra time to talk to faculty.

If African American culture is integrated into science curricula then all students will increase in cultural competency. For example, my professor in the neuro- science department did not know who Dr. Ben Carson, a famous African American Neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, was. (College student taking Biology) Global Approaches to Solo Status

Many of my professors were very condescending. On multiple occasions I would attend a professor’s office hours and ask for help with understanding problems I got wrong on an exam. The professor would say things like, “I can’t believe you got that wrong. It was easy, but you were only one of six students out of the whole class to get this hard question right. I don’t understand how you could get the hard question and not the easy one?” Solo Status in Action

Stereotype Threat, even in Elementary Grades "Each tree has 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?” (Recent 3 rd grade math homework question in Atlanta, Georgia) My son‘s first grade teacher, I used to go in the classroom to do some math with them. One of the kids, an African American kid, was playing a game and he said, “I don‘t got no dice.” He didn’t have the materials he needed. And the teacher who was a young woman right out of college said, “You know, Joshua, we speak English in this class.” Really harshly. And I just thought, oh gosh. There must be a better way to respond.

Your Experiences When have you experienced solo status or stereotype threat?

The Power of Autobiography Sharing our solo status experiences: “My educational experiences, for the most part, taught me that I was illiterate, my language was ignorant, and that I needed to get rid of my culture in order to be successful in the academy and the mainstream. There was a disconnect between what teachers knew about my home language and how this language was essential to my culture, my history, my identity, my literacy. What did those books do for people from my hood? Many of them will never open those books. Many of them will never come through these doors. I need to reach people to invite them in, validate their lives. It’s taken me 14 years to get to where I am today, to write for me, my people, using my own language.” Dr. Elaine Richardson, Professor of English and Education at The Ohio State University

Steele’s Goal We cannot yet forget our essentially heroic challenge: to foster in our children a sense of hope and entitlement to mainstream American life and schooling, even when it devalues them.

Resources – overview of and resources for reducing stereotype threat in your classrooms reducing stereotype threat in classrooms: a review of social- psychological intervention studies on improving the achievement of Black students

Resources for K-16 Educators