Stereotype Threat Was First Defined By Steele And Arson As...

Literature Review Stereotype threat was first defined by Steele and Arson as the â€Å"social-psychological threat that occurs when one is in a situation or doing something for which a negative stereotype about one’s group applies. This predicament threatens one with being negatively stereotyped, with being judged or threatened stereotypically, or with the prospect of conforming to the stereotype† (Steele, 1997, p.614). The biggest stereotype when we talk about STEM fields is â€Å"Why so Few [women]?† Then comes the cultural stereotype that boys are innately better than girls at math and sciences, which is inescapable in the U.S. and apparently at the fault. Recent trends in achievements by girls and women compare to their counterparts, as well as years of scientific research, demonstrate that this notion is simply incorrect. Although the number of women still lags behind the number of men in many STEM fields, the reasons for this gap are cultural biases and institutional barrier s that hinder the advancement of women. A myriad of studies in this area has shown that stereotypes about certain groups’ (especially, women and girls) intellectual abilities negatively impact those students’ performance in diagnostic conditions. Stereotype threat is often provisionally demonstrated as producing immediate effects, such as scoring lower on tests of mathematical ability. In addition, Woodcock, Hernandez, Estrada, and Schultz found for women, African American, Latino and other minority students