effect of stereotype threat on minority student

STEREOTYPE THREAT ON EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES 1

Effect of Stereotype Threat on Minority Student’s Educational Outcomes

Rebecca Redman


Abstract

The negative effects that stereotype threat have on academic outcomes in minority students were

examined to determine the nature and intensity of the effect. Stereotype threat leads to different

factors that influence the gap between white and minority students including but not limited to

GPA, test scores, graduation rates, and college attendance. African American Students are

among the most affected populations when it comes to stereotype threat. There is also the issue

of immigrant students and how the lack of knowledge about what stereotypes are present against

a particular population may lead to lessened effects.


Stereotypes are the unfair belief that all people in a particular group are the same

(Merriam-Webster). In United States society, we tend to group individuals based on

characteristics they share like their race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. This

tendency is part of the social identity theory, which states that we categorize people into social

groups, allowing us to then locate ourselves into a group (Wolfe & Spencer, 1996). This way of

categorization allows us to then see how we rank socially by comparing our in-group and

ourselves with other groups. In order to maintain a positive image of our in-group, the

development of stereotypes allows for us to put down the other group and make them seem

inferior.

The Robbers Cave experiment by Sherif demonstrates one possible reason for the

development of stereotypes, the realistic group conflict theory. In the experiment, boys at a

summer camp were split into two groups and then competed against each other. Eventually, the

boys in each group began to discriminate against those in the other group, leading to the

development of stereotypes about them (Wolfe & Spencer, 1996). By putting groups in

competition for resources, society encourages intergroup conflicts that lead to the development

of stereotypes. Similar to the social identity theory, the use of stereotypes here is to make the

out-group appear worse than your in-group, leading to a sense of pride and superiority for being

a part of your particular group.

The use of stereotypes to elevate your own in-group does have negative impacts on the

group being stereotyped against when it is widely believed, leading to the development of

stereotype threat. Stereotype threat occurs when an individual is aware of a stereotype that

applies to a group that they are a part of, which causes anxiety about possibly confirming the

negative stereotype leading the individual to perform below their true ability (Slavin, 2015). In


order for stereotype threat to occur, the individual must be aware of the stereotype, leading them

to internalize the view into their own identity. This internalization of stereotypes has many

negative effects on educational outcomes by making minority students believe that they are in

fact intellectually inferior to their white counterparts.

There are many factors that may lead to being stereotyped against such as gender, race,

and income. Because all individuals belong to multiple groups it is possible to be subjected to

multiple minority stereotype threat. This occurs when multiple parts of an individual’s identity

are stigmatized and these individuals tend to show lower test performance than individuals who

are subjected to single minority stereotype threat (Tine & Gotlieb, 2013). By being aware of

stereotypes against their identity and also by being reminded of these parts of their identity

before taking a test, it is predicted that students will perform lower than a control group who are

not subjected to these conditions.

Socioeconomic status and family support are often blamed for the gap between minority

populations and their white counterparts, ignoring the possibility that subtle forms of racism may

influence educational outcomes. By making a student aware that they are part of a minority

group that tends to perform lower in academics, they become susceptible to stereotype threat,

leading them to conform to the negative view. Among minority groups, African Americans tend

to be one of the most stereotyped groups within the education system. There is also a tendency to

stereotype against first and second generation immigrants, but because this population is not as

aware of the stereotypes, they tend to be less susceptible to the effects of stereotype threat.

Stereotype threat may also play a role in the attrition of minorities in STEM programs in higher

education. Lastly, there are ways to combat the effects of stereotype threat, such as teaching


students self-affirmation techniques, mentoring, and increasing their identification with the

dominant culture.

Effect on African American Students

African American students are one of the most marginalized groups within the

educational system. There are many studies showing that this group tends to report more anxiety

related to academics than their white peers as well as lower academic performance (Wasserberg,

2014). One reason behind this increase in anxiety could be attributed to stereotype threat, making

children nervous about performing lower than their true ability and therefore conforming to the

stereotype.

In one study, Martin Wasserberg (2014) had a sample of students from and urban

elementary school who were in the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade. The students were first given a

vignette to read about an imaginary planet in which the inhabitants of said planet had stereotypes

that mimic those against minority populations (such as “Green people think Blue people are not

Smart”) Students were asked a basic comprehension question and then were asked to give

examples on how the imaginary planet and real world are similar. Some children reported ways

in which discrimination is similar on the planet compared to what they have observed (stereotype

aware), while other children simply reported things involving school, such as the use of teachers

and students (stereotype unaware). After the vignette, students were placed into two groups, the

control group who were told the upcoming reading comprehension test was a nondiagnostic

performance test. The experiment group was told that the upcoming test was a diagnostic of their

ability. The children were also given a measure on anxiety and self-efficacy (Wasserberg, 2014).

The results found that African American students who were aware of stereotypes and part

of the experiment group scored significantly lower than their stereotype aware counterparts in


the control group. Students in the experiment group also reported significantly more anxiety than

their control group counterparts. On the other hand, students who are unaware of stereotypes did

not show any significant difference between the experiment and control group (Wasserberg,

2014). These findings support stereotype threat by demonstrating how people who are aware of

stereotypes tend to have higher anxiety in that area, leading to poor performance.

These results are common among studies that look into stereotype threat and educational

outcomes, and can even be seen when observing certain educational outcomes among these

groups. African American students consistently perform lower on aptitude test scores and high

school GPA, as well as demonstrate higher dropout rates than their white classmates.

Whaley and Noel (2010) propose the cultural incompatibility perspective which includes

stereotype threat theory as one reason for this gap. The cultural incompatibility theory is the view

that the United States’ educational system is tailored to European American perspectives, leaving

the African American students unable to relate to the content of their education, as well as how

they are being taught. When African American students do well, they are at risk for being seen as

preferring the White American culture over their own (Whaley & Noel, 2010). Stereotype threat

is part of this process, not only by having the African American students being stereotyped by

people not in their group, but by also being susceptible to in-group stereotypes, making the

student have to choose which identity they want to be a part of.

The African American students in these studies were in the position of having spent their

entire lives living in the United States. This experience gave them years of experience with

facing stereotypes, making them more aware of the negative views of their race in regards to

intelligence and academic performance. Another population that is often subjected to stereotype


threat includes immigrant students, but considering their lack of knowledge about stereotypes

held against them are effected in a different way.

Effect on Immigrant Students

Acculturation is the process of cultural modification of an individual or group by

adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture (Merriam-Webster). When immigrants

arrive at their new resident culture, there are four acculturation profiles that are possible for them

to experience. The first is integration, where the individual highly identifies with both their

resident culture and their ethnic background. These individuals successfully integrate both

cultures as part of their identity. The next profile is assimilation. This occurs when individuals

have low ethnic identity strength but have high resident culture strength. These individuals have

successfully integrated parts of their resident culture into their identity but may no longer see

themselves as being a part of their ethnic culture. The third profile is separation, where the

individual has high ethnic identity strength but low resident culture strength. These individuals

may have come to their resident culture out of necessity, rather than want. Last, there is the

marginalization profile. These individuals have a weak identification with both their ethnic

culture and resident culture. A possible cause of this profile would be refugees who are no longer

accepted in their ethnic culture and do not want to be where they were placed (Weber, Appel, &

Kronberger, 2015).

The acculturation profiles are important for understanding the effect stereotype threat has

on immigrant students because the more a student identifies with their resident culture, the less

the effects of stereotype threat will be on them, and therefore the more success they will have in

the education system. On the other hand, individuals who have low identity strength with their


resident culture are predicted to do worse in educational areas due to the pressure to assimilate to

the new culture (Weber et al, 2015).

Weber, Appel, and Kronberger (2015) conducted two experiments in which they learned

more about how resident culture identity strength is related to stereotype threat and academic

success. Before the experiments were conducted, the students were asked to fill out a

questionnaire about their ethnic backgrounds and identity. In the first experiment conducted,

immigrant students were randomly placed into three conditions and asked to read a newspaper

article under the guise of a reading comprehension task. The subtle threat and explicit threat

groups read an article about an academic competition and the winners. In the subtle threat group,

the newspaper article only used names that are typical of the resident culture, avoiding any ethnic

names from the immigrant groups. The explicit threat condition read the same newspaper article

with the same names but also had an additional paragraph at the end stating that no immigrant

students had qualified to be a part of the competition and speculated that this group may lack the

talent needed. The last group was the control, which read a different article that did not relate to

academic topics. After reading the article, students were then asked to do a cognitive

performance task. The subtle and explicit threat groups were told that the test was a general

performance task, while the control group was told that it was a picture puzzle.

The results of this first experiment found that in the explicit threat conditions, students

who had high identification with the resident culture performed significantly better on the

cognitive task than the students with low resident identification. These results support the

hypothesis that a strong resident culture identity is useful in combating the effects of stereotype

threat in immigrant students, more so than a strong ethnic identity, which was not related to any

significant differences in performance.


The second experiment conducted by Weber et al (2015) was whether or not resident

identity strength could be manipulated in order to further test the relation to stereotype threat. For

this study, immigrant students were randomly assigned into two groups. One group filled out a

sentence-completion task that had them provide examples of how they are similar to their

resident culture (strengthening condition). The other group filled out a sentence-completion task

where they provided examples about how they are different from their resident culture

(weakening condition). The two groups were then given the explicit threat newspaper article and

then the cognitive performance task from the previous study.

Immigrant students who were a part of the strengthening condition performed

significantly better than their weakening condition counterparts (Weber et al, 2015). These

results correspond with the first experiment in that the students who saw themselves as having

high resident culture identity were less susceptible to stereotype threat.

Another perspective on how immigrants are affected by stereotype threat is through the

internalization and externalization of stereotypes that they experience. Immigrant students

experience an externalization of stereotypes through academic performance burden, which is the

pressure they feel to succeed in order to avoid confirming the stereotype. The internalization of

stereotypes occurs when the immigrant student begins to believe the negative belief about their

group, which may lead to a reduction in academic effort and disengagement with education

(Owens & Lynch, 2012).

Owens and Lynch (2012) found that immigrant students experience stereotype threat in

different ways depending on what generation they are within their resident culture. First- and

second-generation immigrants, and domestic minority students all show similar levels of

externalization and internalization of stereotypes when it comes to education. The difference


occurs in first- and second-generation students who show more effort in their education than the

domestic students, who have spent more time being exposed to the negative stereotypes. Because

first- and second-generation immigrant students and their families have spent less time in the

resident culture than domestic minorities, they are less susceptible to stereotype threat, giving

them a higher sense of control over their educational outcomes. One area where stereotype threat

becomes potent for immigrant and minority students is in higher education.

Effect within Higher Education

Within the higher education system, there is a gap between white and minority students

who attend and graduate. One reason for the attrition of minorities at elite universities could be

the racial climate that surrounds them. Because there is less diversity at these universities,

minority students become hyperaware of their race when in the position to be judged on their

performance (Fischer, 2008). One reason for this hyperawareness is because they are a novelty

and are more likely to stand out, due to their race and ethnicity, when they perform poorly. This

hyperawareness leads to a performance burden based on the degree to which they believe the

out-group is judging them on their academic success or struggle. Students who experience a

higher performance burden are predicted to have lower GPA’s. They are also more likely to

report feeling alienated from their peers, resulting in them being more susceptible to stereotype

threat and dropping out (Fischer, 2008).

Not only is there a gap between white and minority students in their GPA and graduation

rates, but there is also a gap between the two groups within some college majors, specifically

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). In college, African American

students are the most likely to declare a STEM major, followed by Asians, Caucasians, and

Hispanics respectively. Even though African Americans are the most likely to declare, Caucasian


and Asian students are the most likely to graduate with a degree in a STEM major (Beasley &

Fischer, 2011). This means that somewhere throughout their college career, African American

students are faced with either changing their major away from the STEM fields or dropping out

of college.

One way to know that stereotype threat is behind the disproportion between declaration

and graduation of minority students within the STEM field is by looking at attrition rates of the

Caucasian students. Even though it is not common, white males who are subjected to stereotype

threat within the STEM major also show a higher rate of either dropping the major or out of

college all together (Beasley & Fischer, 2011). This finding provide evidence that stereotype

threat is not a novel experience for minorities, but has adverse effects for the dominant group

when turned around onto them.

With the knowledge about how stereotype threat influences students at all levels of

education, it is possible to look into different ways to combat these effects in order to give

minority students the best chance for success.

Combating Stereotype Threat

One possible way to combat the effect of stereotype threat in elementary and middle

school age children is to pair the students with a college mentor of the same ethnicity. This will

help children see that they can succeed academically. Mentors should also emphasize that

intelligence is malleable, giving the children the view that they are not of a fixed intellect and if

they put in the work will be able to be successful (Wasserberg, 2014).

It is also possible to help students not be affected by stereotype threat by teaching them

self-affirmation. Self-affirmation is the process of asserting personally important values that help

the student to build their self-image despite stereotypes against them (Hanselman, Bruch,


Gamoran, & Borman, 2014). Self-affirmation works well in schools were there is high risk for

stereotype threat against students, giving students power to realize that they are not the

stereotype and help to reduce any anxiety felt.

Lastly, in immigrant students, making the student feel like they identify with their

resident culture helps prevent any anxiety from stereotype threat against them (Weber et al,

2015). Having a higher resident culture identification allows for the students to feel as if they are

included in their new cultural home, giving them the resources needed to not feel anxiety when

faced with stereotype threat.

Conclusion

Stereotype threat is anxiety experienced when faced with a stereotype against a group

you are a part of, leading to underperformance in a particular area, thus confirming the

stereotype. This threat has a large effect on minority populations within the educational system,

leading to gaps between white and minority students in areas like GPA and graduation. African

American students are one of the most marginalized groups, and are often the subject of

stereotype threat research, finding that this group of students often report more anxiety in

academic areas (Wasserberg, 2014). Immigrant students tend to be less susceptible to stereotype

threat due to their lack of time being subjected to stereotypes (Owens &Lynch 2012) but by

having low identity strength with the resident culture are still at risk for being effected (Weber et

al, 2015). The effects of stereotype threat do influence attrition rates within higher education, and

can even influence student success in certain areas like the STEM fields (Beasley & Fischer,

2011). Even though stereotype threat has adverse effects on these populations, there are ways in

which they can be combated, allowing for these groups to still succeed in spite of the views

against them.


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effect of stereotype threat on minority student

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