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STEM-ming the Tide:
Coping with Stereotype Threat In Math & Science Learning
Matt McGlone, Ph.D.Dept of Communication
StudiesThe University of Texas at
Stef Paramoure, M.Ed.Canyon Middle School
New Braunfels, [email protected]
Keith Mitchell, Ph.D.Texas Regional Collaboratives
The University of Texas at Austin
Common Explanations for Ethnic Academic Achievement Gaps
1. Lower innate intelligence of ethnic minorities
• Herrnstein & Murray (1989): The Bell Curve• Rushton (1984): more offspring / less nurturing low intelligence• DNA pioneer James Watson (2008): “Gloomy prospects for Africa”
2. Poverty lower skills and preparation
3. Cultures that encourage anti-intellectualism, characterize academic success as “acting white”
Common Explanations for Sex-Based
STEM Achievement Gaps 1. Biology
• Geary (1998): evolutionary pressures yield sexual dimorphism in reasoning and communication abilities • Baron-Cohen (2001): prenatal testosterone levels shape male (systemizing) vs. female (empathizing) brains
2. Socialization• McGillicuddy-De Lisi (1998): girls receive less encouragement to pursue STEM studies than boys
3. Nature-Nurture Interaction• “…by nature implanted, for nurture to enlarge” (Merchant Taylor’s School Headmaster Richard Mulcaster, 1581)
Psychological discomfort people experience when they are concerned about a) being judged in terms of a negative social or personal stereotype or b) doing something that would inadvertently confirm the stereotype.
Stereotype/Social IdentityThreat
stereotypeis salient
apprehension,distraction
intellectualdisruption
resemblestereotype
Stereotype Threat and Academic Achievement
• ST is a situational phenomenon that can account for a significant portion of ethnic and gender gaps in test performance and academic achievement.
• ST elicited by cues operating in the classroom and/or testing context.
Cues to Stereotype Threat: Test Framing
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Verbal Ability Class Exercise
Test Description
Racial Differences in Verbal Performance
White
Black
Steele & Aronson (1995)Steele & Aronson (1995)Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
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Te
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Math Ability ProblemSolving
Test Description
Gender Differences in Math Performance
Men
Women
Johns, Schmader, & Martens (2005)Johns, Schmader, & Martens (2005)Psychological SciencePsychological Science
Cues to Stereotype Threat: Identity Salience
woman Latina daughter sister aunt Houstonian UT student biology major athlete girlfriend
Situationally salientidentity can boostor impair intellectualperformance
AscribedVs.
AchievedIdentities
Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test (MRT)
• produces largest documented gender gap in any cognitive ability (Halpern, 1992; De Lisi, 2001)
• a meta-analysis containing 286 data sets and 100,000 participants found a highly significant male advantage for mental rotation (d = .9); this pattern remains stable across age and has decreased little in recent years.
Identity Salience Influences Women’s Mental Rotation Performance
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GENDER "ELITE COLLEGE" STUDENT CONTROL
MR
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WOMEN
MEN
McGlone & Aronson (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Over 200 published scientific studies ofstereotype threat phenomena since 1995
Cues to stereotype threat:• equating test performance with ability, not effort• making stigmatized social identities salient in classroom context
ST effects shown for:• all education levels (K-12, college, grad school)• all groups targeted by negative intellectual stereotypes (minorities AND majorities)• girls, women in STEM learning contexts
Strategies for Reducing Stereotype Threat in STEM Learning
Reducing Stereotype ThreatSolution 1: Provide Role Models
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MenWomen
Marx & Roman (2002)Marx & Roman (2002)Personality and Social Psychology BulletinPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Reducing Stereotype ThreatSolution 2: Threat Inoculation through Education
• Train our educators to be ‘wise mentors’– discuss, challenge stereotypes among students– set high standards but assure students that they can meet them
• Emphasize skill over ability– highlight that learning is an incremental process– motivating metaphors: mind as muscle, metal
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End of the Year
Math Test Performance
Intelligence isIncremental
ExperiencingDifficulty is
Normal
Control
Type of Intervention
Males
Females
Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht (2003) Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht (2003) Applied Developmental PsychologyApplied Developmental Psychology
Reducing Stereotype ThreatSolution 2: Threat Inoculation through Education
Reducing Stereotype ThreatSolution 3: Help students reappraise the
meaning of difficulty
• Difficulty indicates need for practice, not low ability• Mental growth requires challenge: No pain, no
gain!
• Anxiety stems from fear of confirming negative expectations stereotype threat
• Make students aware of stereotype threat
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Acc
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ath
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Math Ability Test
Problem SolvingTask
Math AbilityTest + STBriefing
Men
Women
Teaching about Stereotype Threat Inoculates Students Against Its Effects
McGlone & Aronson (2007).McGlone & Aronson (2007). Communication Education Communication Education
Implications For our Work as Teachers
• Understand and teach students that intelligence,
performance, motivation are fragile; learn to expect
ups and downs
• Teach students that their abilities can expand
• Expose students to role models who, like them,
experience difficulties but overcome• Use cooperative group work; reduce competition• Give feedback in ways that don’t undermine
motivation; high standards and support to meet standards
STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE PODCAST
• Hosted by the Texas Regional Collaboratives and produced by Stef Paramoure of Science Alive
• One hour episode on the science of stereotype threat; follow-up conversations between Paramoure and McGlone about classroom solutions
• Learn how to subscribe to podcast at:
http://thetrc.org/stereotypethreat
• Watch the podcast, share the message!
