Stereotype Threat and Ten Things We Can Do to Remove the Threat in the Air

Authors

Franklin A. Tuitt, University of Denver
Lois Reddick, New York University

Date of this Version

2008

Document Type

Article

Citation

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development (2008) 26

doi: 10.3998/tia.17063888.0026.012

Comments

License: CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of the literature related to stereotype threat in an effort to provide faculty members and instructional developers with a better understanding of what the phenomenon is and what can be done about it in college classroom settings. To this end, we reviewed several of the major studies published on the subject between 1995 and 2005 and compiled a list of strategies that reflected both the major empirical findings on stereotype threat and our own research and experiences with faculty and students in college settings. Given the enormity of the subject, we focused heavily on the features of stereotype threat that relate specifically to race but acknowledged that the complexity of the subject required attention to other aspects of identity that may function to lessen, or in some cases increase, the intensity of stereotype threat. The overall findings suggested that there are several ways in which faculty and instructional developers can help to create learning environments that serve to mitigate the impact of stereotype threat, and that more work needs to be done to examine the ways in which faculty and instructional developers can strive to create environments that improve the quality of students’ perceptions and academic performances.