Transcript Stereotype Threat and Implicit Theories: The Effects on

Closing Achievement Gaps
Catherine Good
Columbia University
January 14, 2005
Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce: Women, Underrepresented Minorities, and their S&E Careers
The Achievement Gap
• Males outperform females on the math portion of the
SAT by 36 points.
• Compared to white students, Blacks and Latinos
– Earn lower standardized test scores and grades.
– Are less likely to go to college.
– Have higher drop out rates.
% of Degrees Going to Women
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
S&E Degrees
Psychology
Math
Engineering
Bachelor's
Master's
Doctoral
“In the perception of society my athletic talents
are genetic; I am a likely mugger-rapist; my
academic failures are expected; and my
academic successes are attributed to others. To
spend most of my life fighting these attitudes
levies an emotional tax that is a form of
intellectual emasculation”
-Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson
http://research.amnh.org/users/tyson/speeches/PhDConvocationAddress.html
Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson, 1995
Unpleasant apprehension arising from
the awareness of a negative ability
stereotype in a situation where the
stereotype is relevant, and thus
confirmable.
Stereotype Threat
Stereotype Threat Effects on Black
Students’ Performance
Steele & Aronson, 1995
10
9
whites
# of items solved
8
blacks
whites
7
6
5
blacks
4
3
2
1
STEREOTYPE THREAT
NO STEREOTYPE THREAT
Black students who were about to
take a diagnostic test...
• Showed greater cognitive activation of racial
stereotypes.
• Rated standardized tests as more biased against
minorities.
• Rated stereotypical things (liking rap music, or
being lazy) as less self-characteristic.
• Were less likely to indicate their race on the test
booklet.
Additional Studies Finding
Performance Effects
• Women taking math tests (Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2000; Spencer,
Steele, & Quinn 1999)
•
•
•
•
Latinos taking verbal tests (Aronson & Salinas, 1997)
Low SES students taking verbal tests (Croizet & Claire, 1998)
Blacks and miniature golf (Stone, 2002)
White males taking math tests when compared to Asians
(Aronson, Lustina, Good, Keough, Steele, & Brown, 1999)
Females’ identity bifurcation in
response to stereotype threat
Pronin, Steele, & Ross, 2003
6
5
4
Low Rele vance
High Relevance
3
2
1
0
No Threat
Threat
Self-Theories of Intelligence
Dweck, 1999
Entity Theorists
• Intelligence is fixed
– Trait largely determined by nature
Incremental Theorists
• Intelligence is malleable
– Quality that can be increased through
nurture
Desire similar outcome
• achieving good scores, doing “well”
Different motivation for pursuing this outcome
• Performance goals
seeking
to validate
abilityitasis
“When –I take
a course
in school,
good relative
to others
very important
for me to
validate that I
am smarter than other students.”
• Learning goals
– seeking
to develop
ability
“In school
I am always
seeking
opportunities to develop new skills
and acquire new knowledge.”
Reducing Stereotype Threat:
The Role of Implicit Theories
• Directly teaching an incremental theory
– increased enjoyment of education, valuing
academics, and GPA for African American
college students (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002).
– increased standardized test scores for 7th grade
girls in math and Hispanic students in reading
comprehension (Good, Aronson & Inzlicht, 2003).
Increasing College GPA
Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002
4
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
Black
White
Control
Pen Pal
Maintaining Academic
Identification in the Face of Threat
Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002
7
6
5
4
Black
White
3
2
1
0
Control
Pen Pal
“Considering all the things that make you who you are, how important is academic
achievement?”
Increasing Math Standardized Test Scores
Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003
90
80
70
Female
Male
60
50
40
Control
Malleable
Increasing Reading Comprehension
Standardized Test Scores
Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003
90
80
70
Hispanic
60
50
40
Control
Malleable
Conclusions So Far
• Stereotype threat contributes to the achievement gaps.
• Stereotype threat causes women to bifurcate their social
identities.
• Eliminating stereotype threat can reduce the achievement
gap.
• Directly teaching incremental theories about intelligence
– helps stereotyped students maintain high achievement.
– reduces disidentification from academics.
Creating an Entity versus an
Incremental Environment
• Extolling the “genius” of prominent
scientists and mathematicians.
• Valuing quick, effortless solutions.
• De-emphasizing the hard work that
underlies scientific discovery.
• Creating a culture of talent.
Hypotheses
• Academic contexts that convey the idea that
intelligence is a fixed trait
– create a fragile sense of belonging.
– create vulnerability to stereotype threat.
• Academic contexts that portray skills as
acquirable
– foster a more hardy sense of belonging.
– provide resiliency against stereotype threat.
Sense of Belonging
QuickTime™ and a
GIF decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Procedure
Good, Dweck, & Rattan, 2004
• Participants
– Calculus I and Calculus II students
– 320 Females
• Procedure
– Perceptions of Environmental Stereotyping (PEST)
– Perceptions of Environmental Entity Theory of Math
Intelligence (PEET)
– Sense of Belonging to Math (SOB)
• Time 1: 3 weeks into the semester
• Time 2: after midterms
• Time 3: 1 week before finals
Sense of Belonging
When I am in a math setting…
• Membership
a = .95
– I typically have felt that I belong to the math community.
• Acceptance
a = .91
– I feel like an outsider.
– I feel accepted.
• Fade
a = .79
– I try to say as little as possible.
• Affect
a = .89
– I feel anxious.
– I feel comfortable.
• Trust
– I trust my instructors to be committed to helping me learn.
a = .75
People in my calculus class…
• PEET (4 items)
a = .97
– believe that people have a certain amount of math
intelligence and they can’t really do much to change it.
– believe that people can learn new things, but they can’t
really change their basic math intelligence.
• PEST (6 items)
a = .93
– believe that females are as good as males in calculus.
– would trust a woman just as much as they would trust a
man to figure out important math problems.
– believe that females can do just as well as males in
math.
Effects of Perceiving an
Entity Environment and Stereotyping on
Females’ Sense of Belonging to Math
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
High PEST
Low PEST
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Hi PEET
Low PEET
Effects of Perceiving an
Entity Environment and Stereotyping on
Females’ Intent to Pursue Math
6
5
4
High PEST
Low PEST
3
2
1
High PEET
Low PEET
PEET
PEST
-.21
-.26
-.18
SOB
.47
.33
Interest
.16
Future
Intent
.48
.10
PxP
SAT
p = .73
NFI = .99; RMSEA = .000
p for test of close fit = .99
PEET
PEST
-.20
-.26
-.18
PxP
Final
Grade
.26
SOB
.34
.30
SAT
p = .07
NFI = .99; RMSEA = .04;
p for test of close fit = .58
The Effects of Perceiving an Entity
Environment and Stereotyping on
Middle School Girls’ Sense of Belonging
Good, Dweck & Rattan, 2004
7
6.5
6
5.5
High PEST
Low PEST
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
Hi PEET
Low PEET
The Effects of Perceiving an Entity
Environment and Stereotyping on
Middle School Girls’ Math Grades
4
3.5
3
High PEST
Low PEST
2.5
2
1.5
1
Hi PEET
Low PEET
* p = .10
Conclusions
• The race and gender gaps in achievement are due
(in part) to the negative stereotypes about
minorities’ and females’ abilities.
• The gaps can be reduced by fostering an
incremental theory of intelligence.
• Learning environments that convey stereotyping
and a fixed view of intelligence undermine
females’ sense of belonging to math which in turn
affect grades.
Conclusions
• The race and gender gaps in achievement are due (in part)
to the negative stereotypes about minorities’ and females’
abilities.
• The gaps can be reduced by fostering an incremental
theory of intelligence.
• Learning environments that convey a fixed view of
intelligence and stereotyping undermine females’ sense of
belonging to math which in turn affects grades.
• Learning environments that convey a malleable view of
intelligence enable females to maintain a sense of
belonging and high grades, even in the face of stereotypes.