Charlotte R. Pennington
Creating a critical mass eliminates the effects of stereotype threat on women's mathematical performance
Pennington, Charlotte R.; Heim, Derek
Authors
Derek Heim
Abstract
© 2016 The British Psychological Society. BACKGROUND: Women in mathematical domains may become attuned to situational cues that signal a discredited social identity, contributing to their lower achievement and underrepresentation.AIM: This study examined whether heightened in-group representation alleviates the effects of stereotype threat on women's mathematical performance. It further investigated whether single-sex testing environments and stereotype threat influenced participants to believe that their ability was fixed (fixed mindset) rather than a trait that could be developed (growth mindset).SAMPLE AND METHOD: One hundred and forty-four female participants were assigned randomly to a self-as-target or group-as-target stereotype threat condition or to a control condition. They completed a modular arithmetic maths test and a mindset questionnaire either alone or in same-sex groups of 3-5 individuals.RESULTS: Participants solved fewer mathematical problems under self-as-target and group-as-target stereotype threat when they were tested alone, but these performance deficits were eliminated when they were tested in single-sex groups. Participants reported a weaker growth mindset when they were tested under stereotype threat and in single-sex groups. Moreover, evidence of inconsistent mediation indicated that single-sex testing environments negatively predicted mindset but positively predicted mathematical performance.CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that single-sex testing environments may represent a practical intervention to alleviate stereotype threat effects but may have a paradoxical effect on mindset.
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Feb 18, 2016 |
Publication Date | Sep 1, 2016 |
Deposit Date | Sep 12, 2017 |
Publicly Available Date | Sep 12, 2017 |
Journal | The British journal of educational psychology |
Print ISSN | 0007-0998 |
Electronic ISSN | 2044-8279 |
Publisher | Wiley |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 86 |
Issue | 3 |
Pages | 353-368 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12110 |
Keywords | stereotype threat, social identity, single-sex classrooms, critical mass, mindset |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/913240 |
Publisher URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12110 |
Contract Date | Sep 12, 2017 |
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