Stereotype Threat in the Science Classroom

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Beginning in the middle-school years there is a significant drop in young girls' confidence to succeed in math and science, even though girls perform as well or better than boys. The perception females hold of their abilities in math and science is the gatekeeper to their persistence in these academic domains. Yet, it is not clear why young adolescent girls lose confidence in these abilities. There is compelling recent evidence that when adult women are either directly or subtly reminded of women's minority status in math, their subsequent math performance is compromised and their expectations for future success in math are lowered. This profound effect of a "stereotype threat" is found consistently across studies of adult women. Very little is known, however, about stereotype threat in children and when it becomes salient to young girls. Although there is a well-established body of evidence identifying the experimental conditions under which stereotype threat is heightened, it is not known how stereotype threat is triggered in a natural occurring context such as the classroom. Identifying the emergence of stereotype threat and the conditions in the classroom under which it occurs is critical to understanding why young adolescent girls lose confidence in their ability to succeed in math and science. This pilot investigation will identify the conditions in the classroom that increase girls' vulnerability to this threat, and examine whether stereotype threat is responsible for the decline in adolescent girls' math and science confidence.