1. UNCONSCIOUS PROCESSES DEPRESSING BAME STUDENTS’ ATTAINMENT
Dr Marie Stewart
HERAG Think Tank 4
14 June 2017
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2. BAME STUDENTS’ UNDER-ACHIEVEMENT…
Should we
FIX the students? ‘Deficit model’
FIX the universities? Culture change
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INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION
Where
an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice
puts/would put persons in one group at a particular disadvantage compared with persons in another group
and this cannot be objectively justified
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4. DISCRIMINATORY PROCESSES
IMPLICIT/UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
Unconscious assumptions and beliefs,
of which we may be unaware
or unwilling to acknowledge,
that can affect our behaviour.
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5. IMPLICIT/UNCONSCIOUS PROCESSES
Beliefs about intelligence/abilities
Negative stereotyping
Attribution: explanations for behaviour
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6. MINDSET ‘FIXED’ MINDSET
Basic qualities like intelligence are fixed traits
Academic success depends on ability
‘GROWTH’ MINDSET
Abilities are developed through effort
Talent is just the starting point
Dweck (2006)
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Dr Marie Stewart MBE

7. STEREOTYPE THREAT Stereotypes are oversimplified, rigid & generalised
beliefs about groups of people in which all individuals are regarded as having the same set of leading characteristics.
Furnham & Lamb
Stereotype threat refers to being at risk of
confirming, as a self characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group. Steele & Aronson (1995)
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Dr Marie Stewart MBE

8. ‘IN GROUPS’ / ‘OUT GROUPS’ Attribution of success or failure
POSITIVE/
ACHIEVEMENT
NEGATIVE/
FAILURE
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9. ‘IN GROUPS’ / ‘OUT GROUPS’ Attribution of success or failure
POSITIVE/
ACHIEVEMENT
Internal / Permanent
NEGATIVE/
FAILURE
External / Temporary
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10. ‘IN GROUPS’ / ‘OUT GROUPS’ Attribution of success or failure
POSITIVE /
ACHIEVEMENT
Internal / Permanent
External / Temporary
NEGATIVE /
FAILURE
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What can teachers do to reduce potentially negative effects of these processes?
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Dr Marie Stewart MBE

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Carol S Dweck (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of success Random House
Dweck: Ridley Lecture:
Claude M Steele (2010) Whistling Vivaldi: And other clues to how stereotypes affect us W W Norton & Co
Pettigrew, T F (1979) The ultimate attribution error: extending Allport’s cognitive analysis of prejudice. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 5(4)
(c) Taylor-Stewart Associates
Dr Marie Stewart MBE