The power of the stereotype threat

By Ria Patel

Stereotype threats are hurting you without you even knowing about it.

Imagine this. You are sitting down to take that AP Calculus exam that you have studied for for weeks. Every day, you sacrificed an hour of your afternoon to read and review for that important test. You went to sleep early the night before, ate a healthy breakfast and arrived at the testing room early. You have never been more ready for this exam.

However, there are a few questions before the actual course content assessment begins. The test asks for your gender, race and ethnicity. Many may find ease in quickly bubbling their answers for these seemingly trivial distinctions, rushing through these questions frustratedly, just wanting to get to the “real” test. Most view these preliminary background questions as a mild inconvenience at worst.

For others, these few questions could make or break the test score they will receive in two to four weeks.

We face stereotype threats everyday, whether we realize it or not. The term “stereotype threats” refers to the situation in which people conform to a certain stereotype, even if they do not personally agree or believe in the validity of the stereotype. However, the power of the stereotype threat is more than we can consciously understand.

A 2011 Laurel School Center for Research on Girls study showed that by being reminded of one’s gender or race when gender or race is associated with a stereotype threat can heavily affect a person’s performance.

For example, by being reminded that I am a girl before taking a math test — psychologists argue — I will subconsciously associate my own gender with an inferior mathematics capability, and this will negatively and observably affect my test performance. Even if I do not consciously believe in the stereotype that girls are less proficient at math than boys — which for the record I don’t —  this stereotype threat might still affect me. In fact, the Center for Research on Girls study showed that 4700 more girls would receive AP Calculus credit had the question of gender been asked at the end of the test rather than at the beginning, subsequently not reminding students of their gender before they worked math problems.

A similar concept can be applied to different races on the ACT and SAT standardized tests. The Center for Research on Girls study also showed that when African-American and Hispanic students are asked about their race before they take the test, they are more likely to perform poorly on the assessment. Being reminded of one’s race and supposed inferior knowledge can significantly affect performance.

Century-old stereotypes continue to affect us today, even internally and subconsciously. We put ourselves in these categories, set barriers for ourselves and limit our own potential. Why do we do this?