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"The summit kicked off with a wonderful keynote by Joshua Aronson who is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at New York University (NYU). Aronson studies stereotypes, self-esteem, motivation, and attitudes. He showed some remarkable research results that showed that when people are reminded of their race or gender in a testing situation where there is a negative stereotype, they do worse on the test. This is called Stereotype Threat - which he defined as being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. The threat causes anxiety, and all kinds of measurable changes - from the brain to heart rate, and also greatly impacts test results. Simply putting a box to mark gender, for example, at the front of a math test significantly changed test scores - for both men and women. Compared to a test where gender was not asked for, if gender was asked for at the beginning of a test, boy's scores went up, girls' scores went down. If gender was asked at the end, boys' scores went down, girls' scores went up."

Peer beliefs and expectations about gender identity, gender role and gender role conformity can limit participation in school activities and reduce performance potential. Adolescent males in choirs often seem to be reluctant to perform in front of their peers. On the other hand, adolescent females who sing in choirs have quite a contrasting experience. The first of three studies comprising this thesis investigated whether gender stereotype threat contributed to adolescent male choristers' performance decrement, and whether salience of stereotype threat could affect awareness of it. The findings of a second study triangulated those of the first, and revealed common attributes which enabled adolescent male choristers to remain engaged in choral music. This study revealed however, that these traits did not protect the adolescent male choristers from the effects of stereotype threat. Whereas previous extant research on stereotype threat had concentrated on helping the targets of stereotype threat alleviate its effects, the third of the present studies aimed to reveal the perceptions of gender held by non-targets of stereotype threat as well as by the targets, preparing the way to challenge deep-seated beliefs which lead to gender stereotyping and prejudice. The findings of the studies identified how beliefs and expectations about gender identity related to attitudes towards gender role and genderrole conformity within different school cultures, and ultimately limited choice of school-based activities for adolescents. This evidence revealed implications for change to practices which may currently augment gender-role conformity in schools and limit student outcomes. As well, it added to research conducted in the field of stereotype threat in a real-world setting and, importantly, exposed a link between stereotypical beliefs and wider held prejudices.

Intelligence, Motivation, and Intellectual Curiosity are the three pillars of intelligence, and yet, it is very fragile. "Most of my work seeks to understand and remediate race and gender gaps in educational achievement and standardized test performance. Often, the low performance of blacks in particular, but other minorities as well, gets casually chalked up to genetic or cultural differences that supposedly block acquisition of skills or values necessary for academic achievement. In sharp contrast, my students, colleagues, and I have uncovered some exciting and encouraging answers to these old questions by looking at the psychology of stigma - the way human beings respond to negative stereotypes about their racial or gender group. What we have found suggests that being targeted by well-known cultural stereotypes ("blacks are unintelligent", "girls can't do math", and so on) can be very threatening, a predicament my mentor and I called "Stereotype Threat." Stereotype threat engenders a number of interesting psychological and physiological responses, many of which interfere with intellectual performance and academic motivation. I have conducted numerous studies showing how stereotype threat depresses the standardized test performance of black, Latino, and female college students. These same studies showed how changing the testing situation (even subtly) to reduce stereotype threat, can dramatically improve standardized test scores. This work offers a far more optimistic view of race and gender gaps than the older theories that focused on poverty, culture, or genetic factors. We have found that we can do a lot to boost both achievement and the enjoyment of school by understanding and attending to these psychological processes, thereby unseating the power of stereotypes and prejudice to foil the academic aspirations of the young people who, just by virtue of being born black, brown, or female, are subjected to suspicions of inferiority.   A particular focus of m

Science Correspondent Cara Santa Maria summarizes the findings of AAUW's 2010 report, Why So Few?, which explores causes of the gender gap in STEM fields. Cites over 300 experiments illustrate the validity of this research. At puberty the gender gap expands dramatically. Interventions suggested: 1) More female representation in the curriculum 2) Expose the biases.

"A 2010 research report by AAUW presents compelling evidence that can help to explain this puzzle. Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) presents in-depth yet accessible profiles of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers - including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities - that continue to block women's progress in STEM. The report also includes up-to-date statistics on girls' and women's achievement and participation in these areas and offers new ideas for what each of us can do to more fully open scientific and engineering fields to girls and women."

his talk by Joshua Aronson, Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University, is part of "Women and STEM: How stereotypes undermine the interest and success of women in science, technology, engineering, and math," a Faculty Curator Speaker Series organized by Jenessa Shapiro, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA. This series addresses the question of why women continue to be underrepresented and underperforming in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Rather than focusing on possible biological or socialization factors, this series considers the role of stereotype threat. Speakers will present research demonstrating the emergence of stereotype threat in STEM domains, the mechanism that account for this phenomenon, and the ways in which we can intervene to prevent the deleterious influence of stereotype threat. The UCLA Center for the Study of Women is an internationally recognized center for research on gender, sexuality, and women's issues and the first organized research unit of its kind in the University of California system.

The acclaimed social psychologist offers an insider's look at his research and groundbreaking findings on stereotypes and identity. Claude M. Steele, who has been called "one of the few great social psychologists," offers a vivid first-person account of the research that supports his groundbreaking conclusions on stereotypes and identity. He sheds new light on American social phenomena from racial and gender gaps in test scores to the belief in the superior athletic prowess of black men, and lays out a plan for mitigating these "stereotype threats" and reshaping American identities

"As so many studies have demonstrated, success in math and the hard sciences, far from being a matter of gender, is almost entirely dependent on culture - a culture that teaches girls math isn't cool and no one will date them if they excel in physics; a culture in which professors rarely encourage their female students to continue on for advanced degrees; a culture in which success in graduate school is a matter of isolation, competition and ridiculously long hours in the lab; a culture in which female scientists are hired less frequently than men, earn less money and are allotted fewer resources. And yet, as I listened to these four young women laugh at the stereotypes and fears that had discouraged so many others, I was heartened that even these few had made it this far, that theirs will be the faces the next generation grows up imagining when they think of a female scientist."

This talk by Toni Schmader, Professor of Psychology at University of British Columbia, is part of "Women and STEM: How stereotypes undermine the interest and success of women in science, technology, engineering, and math," a Faculty Curator Speaker Series organized by Jenessa Shapiro, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA. This series addresses the question of why women continue to be underrepresented and underperforming in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Rather than focusing on possible biological or socialization factors, this series considers the role of stereotype threat. Speakers will present research demonstrating the emergence of stereotype threat in STEM domains, the mechanism that account for this phenomenon, and the ways in which we can intervene to prevent the deleterious influence of stereotype threat. The UCLA Center for the Study of Women is an internationally recognized center for research on gender, sexuality, and women's issues and the first organized research unit of its kind in the University of California system.

It isn't just that fewer women choose to go into fields involving science, engineering, technology and math. Even when they do and are successful, women are more likely than men to quit. Psychological research suggests the gender disparity may be, at least in part, the result of of a vicious psychological cycle.

Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 5. "Teaching Adolescents To Become Learners summarizes the research on five categories of noncognitive factors that are related to academic performance: academic behaviors, academic perseverance, academic mindsets, learning strategies and social skills, and proposes a framework for thinking about how these factors interact to affect academic performance, and what the relationship is between noncognitive factors and classroom/school context, as well as the larger socio-cultural context. <br /> <br /> It examines whether there is substantial evidence that noncognitive factors matter for students' long‐term success, clarifying how and why these factors matter, determining if these factors are malleable and responsive to context, determining if they play a role in persistent racial/ethnic or gender gaps in academic achievement, and illuminating how educators might best support the development of important noncognitive factors within their schools and classrooms. <br /> <br /> The review suggests some promising levers for change at the classroom level, and challenges the notion that hard work and effort are character traits of individual students, instead suggesting that the amount of effort a student puts in to academic work can depend, in large part, on instructional and contextual factors in the classroom. <br /> <br /> In addition, the review also presents challenges for future research on noncognitive factors. "

"Teaching Adolescents To Become Learners" summarizes the research on five categories of noncognitive factors that are related to academic performance: academic behaviors, academic perseverance, academic mindsets, learning strategies and social skills. It examines whether there is substantial evidence that noncognitive factors matter for students' long-term success, clarifying how and why these factors matter, determining if these factors are malleable and responsive to context, determining if they play a role in persistent racial/ethnic or gender gaps in academic achievement, and illuminating how educators might best support the development of important noncognitive factors within their schools and classrooms. The review suggests some promising levers for change at the classroom level, as well as challenges for further research.