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The purpose of this article is to provide a summary and overview of published research on stereotype threat. It contains highlights from the reducingstereotypethreat.org web site by Stroessner and Good. You are strongly encouraged to visit this site for a more comprehensive review. By doing so you may increase your understanding of the phenomenon known as stereotype threat and gain strategies to reduce its occurrence and impact (Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005).

A brief overview of Stereotype Threat.

An Overview of Stereotype Threat

What could you do for an hour in the first year of college that would improve minority students' grades over the next three years, reduce the racial achievement gap by half and, years later, make students happier and healthier? The answer, Stanford psychologists suggest, involves an exercise to help make students feel confident they belong in college.

Reducingstereotypethreat.org was created by two social psychologists as a resource for faculty, teachers, students, and the general public interested in the phenomenon of stereotype threat. This website offers summaries of research on stereotype threat and discusses unresolved issues and controversies in the research literature. Included are some research-based suggestions for reducing the negative consequences of stereotyping, particularly in academic settings.

Women taking a math test will perform worse when reminded that women aren't expected to do well in math. Social psychologist Claude Steele calls this an example of the "stereotype threat." In his book, Whistling Vivaldi, he lays out a plan to reshape those expectations. An interview with Claude Steele.

Dr. Aronoson's talk will focus on the ways that we as individuals and as a university community might reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Aronson asserts, "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." Aronson got his Ph.D. in Psychology at Princeton and currently is an Associate Professor of Psychology at NYU. His research has concentrated on"stereotype threat, and in particular the impact of well-known cultural stereotypes on the intellectual performance and academic motivation in black, Latino and female college students. You can learn more about Aronson at his website. Sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, and African and African-American Studies at Elon, with financial support from the Fund for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences. Special thanks to Dr. Buffie Longmire Avital, Department of Psychology.