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Stereotype Threat And The Insidious Star Trek Saboteur
How stereotypes can have a negative impact — in ridiculously subtle ways.
Are girls worse at math than boys? Do we see fewer women and non-men in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) because they are less interested, less suitable for advanced calculations, or lack sufficient analytical or theoretical brain power?
The short and simple answer to these questions are, of course, no. Such stereotypical gender differences simply do not exist, biologically. However, upon closer examination, the issue quickly becomes a lot more complex. And the reason for this is what psychologists call stereotype threat.
Stereotype threat — are girls really inferior at math?
Stereotype threat is a phenomenon that has been researched for decades and which, in short, looks like this: if there is a negative stereotype in a culture (for example, “girls are worse at math than boys”), and a person is reminded of this negative stereotype in a critical situation, this reminder increases the risk of the stereotype to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Does it still sound…a bit unclear? Let’s look at an example instead.
