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October 20, 2006
Never underestimate the power of suggestionA new study out this week indicates that women who are told they cannot do well in math fall victim to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Forbes is reporting on a study conducted by Canadian researchers that says "women who were told that men were better equipped, genetically, to solve math problems performed worse on math tests than women not exposed to this notion."
The study notes that this phenomenon is called "stereotype threat" in which "individuals from stereotyped groups often 'choke' in situations where those stereotypes are put to the test."
The findings also point to the new power of genetic theory to reinforce negative stereotypes, experts say. For example, women who are told they have a "gene" for poor math performance may then feel there's no point in trying to prove otherwise.In that sense, genetics may be as powerful a tool for discrimination today as religious dogma was in the past, experts say.
The "stereotype threat" is not new to researchers, and "usually, all that is needed for it to kick in is a subtle reminder that the person belongs to a stereotyped group -- for example, asking them to check a box for race or gender at the top of an exam." This new research goes a step further and examines whether certain ideas about gender make the stereotype threat even stronger.
Posted October 20, 2006 3:12 PM | Curriculum
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