Is work and academic performance conditioned by the stereotypes that still prevail in our society? Why are there certain professional fields in which the differences between men and women are so marked?
The theory of Stereotype Threat attempts to provide an answer or explanation to these phenomena that, despite the advances of society, still persist regardless of the age of the people and the field of study or work in which they develop.
The stereotype concept refers to a series of generalized beliefs, or overgeneralizations, resistant to the change that society makes in relation to the members of a group or collective whose members are distinguished by some trait or particular condition.
Usually, these stereotypes are related to aspects such as race, culture or nationality, sex, social status or religion. And although these popular beliefs can be positive, the reality is that in most cases they have a very important negative component.
Based on this concept, various researchers have developed what is currently known as the Stereotype Threat theory. This theory points to the fact that, when a person or group of people they unconsciously assume the negative aspects of the stereotypes linked to their condition Not only does it affect you psychologically, but it can have a significant impact on your academic and work performance.
The investigation of Claude M. Steele
There are many investigations that have tried to firmly establish this theory, as well as the causes of this phenomenon. In this article we will focus on the research of psychologist Claude M. Steele, since, of all the existing ones, they are the ones that have the greatest impact worldwide.
Steele dedicated himself to studying how these stereotypes affected academic performance and productivity of female students and minority ethnic groups, specifically African Americans.
The results obtained by Steele and his collaborators establish that those groups “victims” of negative stereotypes obtained worse performance in those tests that activated or enhanced these stereotypes. For example, mathematical tests that calculated differences between men and women or between African Americans and white Americans.
Likewise, Steele also discovered that this Stereotype Threat It also influenced the development of identity That is, for a student to care about the performance of a certain subject, it is necessary that he or she feel identified with it. This process of affinity with the subject is directly related to the achievements obtained in it, so if these scores are negative, the student will become disinterested in these subjects.
This phenomenon could explain the predominance of women or men in certain university studies as well as in some professional or research contexts.
Her CARACTERISTICS
As a result of his research, Steele created his own list of the characteristics that Stereotype Threat must possess in order to be considered as such:
Evidence against this theory
Although the results obtained in studies on Stereotype Threat have been used as a possible explanation for the differences in performance between men and women, both in some academic circles and in others in the sporting field; Cognitive psychology researcher Tom Stafford, from the University of Sheffield, insists that there is no evidence of the existence of this phenomenon.
Strafford focused on women’s performance in chess tournaments. According to him, previous studies have found that stereotype threat is activated in female chess players when compared to male players. However, after collecting data from more than 5.5 million chess games from international tournaments, no evidence of a Stereotype Threat effect was found.
On the contrary, female players exceeded expectations when competing against men Although their analysis contradicts the specific mechanism of influence of gender stereotypes, the persistent differences between male and female players suggest that there are systematic factors that have not yet been discovered.
Can this influence be avoided?
As a result of research supporting the existence of Stereotype Threat, a series of suggestions or recommendations so that its effect on students is considerably reduced
One of these techniques consists of clearly explaining to students that their nerves before a certain test are due to their awareness of these negative stereotypes, not to their actual ability to correctly perform the exercise.
This explanation provides an explanation that attributes its performance to an external factor that can be ignored or improved, thus decreasing your anxiety levels
A second way to address this Stereotype Threat is to provide students with alternative role models. By using examples of people who, despite being victims of these stereotypes, have achieved their goals in those areas in which they were considered a minority.
