steele
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Monday, Oct. 25:
“The Predicaments of our Social Identities: How They Shape Intellectual and Athletic Performance as well as the Quality of Life in a Diverse Society”
Wednesday, Oct. 27:
“The Predicaments of our Social Identities: How to Overcome Their Ill Effects”
(Both lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. in Rawles Hall 100 on the IU Bloomington campus)
Why do African Americans generally score lower than whites on a variety of achievement tests? Why do women generally score lower than men on mathematics tests? Why are women under-represented in fields related to math and science? These are questions that social scientist Claude Steele, director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, will address during upcoming Patten Lectures.
Steele’s research has explored the role of stereotypes and “stereotype threat” on the performance and school achievement of black Americans and women in the natural sciences.
An example of stereotype threat would be this scenario: an African American does poorly in school, thus he/she “validates” the stereotype of African Americans as being unintelligent. If a woman fails at a math test, she validates the stereotype of women as being poor in mathematics and science. What is important is that this threat of stereotype confirmation may then interfere with normal and effective functioning, pressuring individual members of a stereotyped group to avoid areas from which the stereotype threat might emanate.
Steele’s research suggests achievement barriers faced by women in advanced quantitative areas and by African Americans in school generally; he has taken the research further, developing interventions from which individuals can overcome performance gaps based on stereotype threat.
http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/patten/
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