Why Math Is Not Be A Math Test Or Exam?

The journal article used in reference to stereotyping was retrieved from the The Journal of Experimental Psychology. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how being exposed to social stereotypes can subconsciously affect our behavior. The article explores the theory that if the self is compared to the social stereotype of a perceived out-group, a group with which one does not identify, one will subconsciously behave differently. Therefore, there will be disparities between the similarities

Knowledge of negative stereotypes can influence people’s performance. Stereotype threat creates extra performance pressure through apprehensiveness about conforming to negative stereotypes (Woolfolk &

Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).

Women in the Math World Works Cited Not Included Math is commonly known as the man’s major. Many college math professors are men and the same goes for their students. "One study revealed that women accounted for 15% of students in computer science, 16% in electrical engineering,. . . Gender splits in the faculty were similar" (Cukier).

O’Brien, L.T., & Crandall, C.S. (2003) Stereotype threat and arousal: effects on women’s math performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 782-789.

When comparing the performance of Asian-American participants on a mathematical examination after having been positively stereotyped and without having been positively stereotyped, it was found that the “performance [on the test] was significantly lower in the ethnicity condition than in the control condition” (Cheryan 400). In the ethnicity-salient condition, “participants reported that they had experienced significantly poorer ability to concentrate during the math task than did participants in the control condition” (444). Therefore, positive stereotypes, in the form of salient social expectations, can place a considerable burden on stereotyped Asian Americans, “adversely affecting their performance in the stereotyped domain” (401). That is, while Asian Americans can be characterized as a high-achieving “model minority,” this characterization can lead to agitation, distraction, and lower self-confidence, which ultimately contributes to poorer academic performance. The study elucidates the mechanisms behind Asian-American negative reactions to positive stereotypes: failing to meet high expectations and the possibility that one's poor performance may threaten the reputation of one's group engenders stifling performance pressures when positive Asian stereotypes are initiated. As a result, positive stereotypes

The idea of not performing adequately on a task is something that many people can relate too. This uncomfortable feeling can be experienced throughout many different situations. Previous research suggests that stereotypes on how people are perceived to act or perform can hinder their thought processes and impact their overall performance. This is referred to as stereotype threat. Individuals undergo stereotype threat when they feel pressure to conform to the stereotype that is present. Stereotype Threat is not limited to any category or situation, but has been found to be more prominent in certain areas. This paper will focus on stereotype threat effects in math performance between genders, race/ethnicity and age.

Stereotype threat is a belief in which one person may think that they are being evaluated based on negative stereotypes. Because of this, students who are reminded of negative stereotypes about their race/gender tend to perform worse on tests because it makes them feel inferior. This causes anxiety within a student and causes them to perform worse than they otherwise would if they weren't reminded of their race or gender before the test. So for example, if an African American college student is sitting within a classroom of all white students he/she will be reminded of their race. This causes the student to constantly be aware of their race and will cause the anxiety so they won't perform as well while taking it with all white students in the

Devine (1989) argues that stereotypes are inevitable on the basis that stereotypes and prejudice coexist and that stereotyping occurs automatically. Devine attempts to prove this hypothesis in three experiments. Devine reasons that “as long as stereotypes exist, prejudice will follow.” This hypothesis is rooted in a correlation. Prejudice and stereotypes are related, however there is no clear evidence of causality; Knowledge of a stereotype does not mean an individual agrees with it.

In “The Stereotype Threat Hypothesis: An Assessment from the Philosopher’s Armchair, for the Philosopher’s Classroom” Gina Schouten discusses ways to improve the gender gap within the profession of philosophy. She believes that a disproportionate amount of women do not continue in philosophy after taking an introductory level course, and thus focuses her attention on ways to remedy this problem. The gender gap has been well studied in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and Schrouten believes that some of the research can be applied to the discipline of philosophy. Stereotype Threat Hypothesis (STH) is one account that is purported to explain the differences in the number of men and women in mathematics. Schrouten

The first hypothesis’ were that men and women had different levels of stereotypes and participated in them in different amounts, men would have a higher participation in these types of behaviors, and late adolescents would

When social psychologist Claude Steele began writing about the problem of stereotype threats in the 1990s, many other researchers began to do the same thing. Steele offered that when members of certain groups can be stereotyped in a negative way, they will be seen “through the lens of diminishing stereotypes and low expectations” (1999, p.44). According to Kassin, Fein, and Markus, stereotype threat is defined as “The experience of concern about being evaluated based on negative stereotypes about one’s group.” Steele concluded that stereotype threat can be achieved in two ways: reactions to “threat in the

There have been many studies on stereotype threat and self-esteem and their negative effects on task performance. These studies have focused primarily on minorities such as women, blacks, Latinos and Asians and have found that stereotype threat and self-esteem have influenced negatively in task performance. Steele (1997) investigated how self-esteem and stereotype threat affects task performance and has found that most of task failures have to do with the individual social environment. For instance, a study was conducted in which black students completed a difficult task with either a black or white experimenter. The task was described as intelligent test (Steele & Aronson, 1995). When the experimenter was white, the student performed more

The first effect of stereotyping is a phenomenon known as “stereotype threat” that occurs in a situation where a person is in fear of unintentionally confirming a negative stereotype. Several studies have been conducted to discover the effects of stereotype threats. For example, I discovered that Toni Schmader, an assistant professor of the UA psychology department, and Michael Johns, a UA graduate (ethos), conducted studies that showed, “college women score lower on tests of mathematical ability, and Hispanic students might score lower on tests of intelligence, not because they have less ability, but because reminders of negative stereotypes temporarily decrease their ‘working memory capacity’ (UA News Services, “Exploring the Negative Consequences of Stereotyping”, UANews.Arizona.edu).” This demonstrates that the students did not do worse on the test due to their lack of skills, but rather due to negative stereotypes. In a similar study by professors Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson, African American and White college students took the same intelligence test under two conditions. In the stereotype threat condition the students were told the test would evaluate their intelligence, and in the

Aside from arising from mental shortcuts, it has also been proposed that stereotypes are a result of group conflict (Sherif, 1966). Regularly, individuals behave in a way that is expected of them in order to uphold the impressions others have of them. Thus, individuals act accordingly and embody the stereotype which is projected upon them (Baumeister & Bushman). The degree to which we rely on stereotypes when establishing judgements of others has been widely investigated in the field of social psychology. Frequently, the harmful consequences of relying on stereotypes is noted with the potential of this tendency to lead to prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, the variation in the significance of stereotypes has been explored to determine