“Black Genius, Asian Fail”: The Detriment of Stereotype Lift and Stereotype Threat in High-Achieving Asian and Black STEM Students

Asians are typically situated at the top of the STEM educational and career hierarchy and enjoy a host of material benefits as a result. Thus, their STEM lives are often considered problem-free. This article describes the role of race-based stereotypes in shaping the experiences of high-achieving Black and Asian STEM college students. Their experiences exposed the insidious presence of anti-Black and pro-Asian sentiment, operationalized through the frameworks of stereotype threat and stereotype lift. Stereotype threat and stereotype lift situate the racialized experiences of Black and Asian students as opposites, thereby ignoring their shared marginalization and responses to being stereotyped. I argue that both racial groups endure emotional distress because each group responds to its marginalization with an unrelenting motivation to succeed that imposes significant costs. I aim to demonstrate that Black and Asian college students are burdened with being stereotyped and judged unfairly, enduring sometimes debilitating consequences even while they are praised for fulfilling or defying stereotypes. Discussion includes coalition building among racial groups of color in STEM, serving in part to co-construct racialized psycho-social coping skills, and a strategy for more equitable material outcomes for Black STEMers.

Das mathematische Selbstkonzept als Moderator des Stereotype-Threat- und Stereotype-Lift-Effekts

Zusammenfassung. Ziel dieser Studie war es, zu untersuchen, ob Schüler/-innen durch die Aktivierung von Stereotypen in ihrer Mathematikleistung beeinflusst werden und inwiefern diese Prozesse durch das mathematische Selbstkonzept moderiert werden. Bei Mädchen gehen wir davon aus, dass bei schweren Aufgaben eine Stereotyp-Aktivierung nur bei hohem mathematischem Selbstkonzept zu einer schlechteren Leistung im Vergleich mit der weiblichen Kontrollgruppe führt. Für Jungen mit hohem mathematischem Selbstkonzept wird in der Stereotyp-Threat-Bedingung hingegen ein Leistungsanstieg im Vergleich mit der Kontrollgruppe erwartet. An der Studie nahmen 97 Schüler/-innen der 10. Jahrgangsstufe teil (Alter: M = 15.37, SD = .63). Erwartungskonform zeigte sich bei schweren Mathematikaufgaben eine signifikante Interaktion zwischen Geschlecht, Selbstkonzept und Versuchsbedingung. Mädchen mit hohem mathematischem Selbstkonzept schnitten in der Stereotype-Threat-Bedingung signifikant schlechter ab als Mädchen der Kontrollgruppe. Ein signifikanter Lift-Effekt bei Jungen mit hohem mathematischem Selbstkonzept ergab sich nicht. Die Befunde werden im Hinblick auf Erkenntnisse der Selbstkonzeptforschung und Interventionsstrategien in der Schule diskutiert.

STEREOTYPE THREAT AND STEREOTYPE LIFT: THE CASE OF 10 YEAR OLD GIRLS AND BOYS

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of stereotypical and counter-stereotypicalinformation on the self-esteem and cognitive performance of 10-year-old children. Our sampleconsisted of 37 girls and 37 boys. Children were presented with 10 “mathematical” puzzles in threeexperimental conditions: stereotypical (boys are better), counter-stereotypical (girls are better), andthe control condition (no particular information). Self-esteem was measured using a non-verbaltask. The results showed a significant interaction effect of “condition x sex” on self-esteem andperformance. Girls revealed no significant differences between control and experimental conditions,while boys showed a significant drop in self-esteem and performance in the counter-stereotypicalcondition as compared to the control condition and a significant lift in self-esteem and performancein the stereotypical condition as compared to the control condition.

Gender Role Orientation Moderates Effects of Stereotype Activation on Test Performances

We investigated the moderation of effects of activated gender stereotypes on the performance of women in tests of different ability domains. The Bem Sex Role Inventory assessed masculinity and femininity. The difference of the masculinity and femininity scores served as a continuous independent variable of gender role orientation. Only participants with feminine gender role orientation suffered from stereotype activation with regard to mental rotation and math performance. In contrast, participants with feminine gender role orientation profited from stereotype activation with regard to emotional sensitivity performance. These results demonstrate a generally higher susceptibility to gender stereotypes of women with feminine gender role orientation. Higher self-relevance of stereotypes was associated with stronger stereotype threat, but also stronger stereotype lift or boost.

Spanish slurs and stereotypes for Mexican-Americans in the USA: A context-sensitive account of derogation and appropriation

Slurs such as spic, slut, wetback, and whore are linguistic expressions that are primarily understood to derogate certain group members on the basis of their descriptive attributes (such as their race or sex) and expressions of this kind have been considered to pack some of the nastiest punches natural language affords. Although prior scholarship on slurs has uncovered several important facts concerning their meaning and use –including that slurs are potentially offensive, are felicitously applied towards some targets yet not others, and are often flexibly used not only derogatorily to convey offense towards out-group members but also non-derogatorily to convey affiliation with in-group members– the literature remains largely focused on slurs that typically target African Americans (nigger), male homosexuals (faggot), and sexually active females (slut). Since no account of slurs that typically target Hispanics or Mexican-Americans has so far been proposed, here I offer the first systematic and empirically informed analysis of these that accounts for both their derogatory and appropriative use. Importantly, this article reviews over a dozen Spanish stereotypes and slurs and explains how the descriptive attributes involved in a stereotype associated with a slur can contribute to the predication of certain content in the application of that slur toward its target in context. This article further explains how the psychological effects of stereotype threat and stereotype lift can be initiated through the application of a relevant slur towards its target in context as well.

Smart Girls, Dumb Boys!?

We investigated effects of the media’s portrayal of boys as “scholastic failures” on secondary school students. The negative portrayal induced stereotype threat (boys underperformed in reading), stereotype reactance (boys displayed stronger learning goals towards mathematics but not reading), and stereotype lift (girls performed better in reading but not in mathematics). Apparently, boys were motivated to disconfirm their group’s negative depiction, however, while they could successfully apply compensatory strategies when describing their learning goals, this motivation did not enable them to perform better. Overall the media portrayal thus contributes to the maintenance of gender stereotypes, by impairing boys’ and strengthening girls’ performance in female connoted domains and by prompting boys to align their learning goals to the gender connotation of the domain.