Stereotype threat is the risk that one's performance will diminish due to concerns that they might confirm a sterotype through their actions. I'll use myself as an example. Since moving to San Francisco, many people, particularly in professional settings, have been surprised to hear that I am 24 years old. To a lot of people that I work with, this is considered pretty young for my title and responsibilities. The stereotype threat in this situation is that my performance at work might slack because I think my coworkers have low expectations for young employees. Although I might be a really hard worker, just the fact that I am now aware that people have lower expectations makes me more likely to actually fulfill that expectation and perform at a lower bar.
It's really hard to say whether this has actually affected my acheivement. Although I can definitely see stereotype threat being a real concern for a lot of people, I would say that my knowledge of peoples' reduced expectations for younger employees has only strengthened my performance. I feel like I am more motivated to prove myself and to prove that age doesn't matter when it comes to performance. I strive to prove that I am no less capable because I am younger. So, I think that through my knowledge of this stereotype, I have actually become a stronger performer through extra effort to prove the stereotype wrong.
Although I feel that I have been able to use a stereotype as motivation, I can imagine that a lot of people are negatively impacted by stereotype threat. Although this is pretty obvious, the easiest action I can think of that anyone can take to help curb stereotype threat is to treat everyone as equals. If you treat someone differently because of a stereotype, that is going to solidify what they think your expectations of them are. For every experience someone has that confirms that others have a particular expectation of them, the chance that they will actually fulfill that expectation increases. So, we all need to be sure to continually foster an environment where stereotypes are not acceptable. Or even if we don't believe in a stereotype, even acknowledging that they exist is a bad idea. Anything that reassures someone that they are expected to perform in a certain manner (such as even just mentioning that a stereotype exists), is likely to influence them.
My plan to help combat stereotype threat is to, as I mentioned above, not have preconceived notions of any person I meet that are just based off of particular traits. In addition to that, I'm going to call it as I see it. If someone around me is clearly acting on a stereotype, I want to let them know that they're affecting those around them. I'd try to educate them as to why stereotypes are wrong, and what the negative consequences are of verbalizing them. If I sense that someone is experiencing stereotype threat, I will do my best to reassure them and to tell them that they are no less capable than anyone else. Emphasizing that no one is less capable than anyone else, not only to people experiencing stereotype threat but also to those that might be imposing it, is crucial to curbing the threat.
Copyright: Gary Hammell 2014