how stereotype threat may cause poor performance in women...

Introduction Throughout the years, males have dominated the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with very few females finding their way in the mix (Steinberg, Okun, Aiken, 2012). Those females enrolling in the STEM majors soon find themselves questioning why they have, and many quickly change their majors to more female-accepting professions (Steele, James, Barnett, 2002). The view that women lack the intellect to succeeded in STEM disciplines has been a prevailing one for much of history (Cadinu, Maass, Rosabianca, Kiesner, 2005). Many researchers have questioned whether it is social stigma impeding female success or indeed basic biological differences that make males are more successful†¦show more content†¦Stigmatism of a minority group might inadvertently confirm expectations of majority group memberst (Cadinu, et al. 2005). Merely stating a stereotype, such as that men are smarter than woman, can cause women to experience arousal, anxi ety, and temporary cognitive deficits (Rydell, Rydell, Boucher, 2010). These responses to stereotype threat can cause lower performance on an exam, even if a female and a male are at the same level of intelligence and qualification. Although the underlying process of stereotype threat are not entirely known, it could be connected to impairments of working memory and side effects of anxiety (Krendel, Richeson, Kelley, Hetherton,2008). In a study done by Schmader and Johns (2003), woman under stereotype threat showed a lower memory capacity along with subject-specific negative thoughts. This may be related to poor performance because the threat triggers performance anxiety, which in turn lowers self-confidence. The anxiety triggers subject specific negative thoughts that consume the working memory making it difficult to retrieve vital information for good performance. In a similar study done by Sekaquaptewa and Thompson (2003) showed that who is near you while you are performing makes a difference. If you were to place one female in an exam room full of males, and another female in an exam room evenly distributed of males and females, the female taking theShow MoreRelatedThe Threat of a Stereotype1383 Words   |   6 PagesStereotype threat is present in our everyday lives and it prevents people from doing things to their fullest abilities. It is the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about you resulting in weaker performance. An example where stereotype threat exists is in the case where African Americans do poorly on tests compared to Caucasian individuals. This occurs because the stereotype is that African Americans are intellectually inferior to Caucasian people. 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