Describe an experience that you have had with Stereotype Threat (lived or observed). The article lists five “potential consequences” of Stereotype Threat, selects one, and explains how it might impact a child and their family in a real-life context.
It also lists five situations more conducive to Stereotype Threat than others. Select one of these and describe how you see the risk factors of these situations and their contribution to increased experiences with Stereotype Threat.
Reply Melissa
An experience I have had with stereotype threat was when I was younger in middle school. I am half Hispanic and half Italian, so being of hispanic race I was talked about and put into the category of Hispanic Stereotypes such as living with all my family in one house, being a chola, eating Mexican food only etc. I hung out with a group of girls who were cholas had the makeup, jewelry clothes and were tough. Because I hung with them I was called a chola as well I was made fun of and people who tell other people to avoid me because I was mean and would beat someone up if they looked at me wrong. I didn’t like the fact that I was being judge by who I hung out with and because of my race.
One “potential Consequence” from the article that might impact a child and their family in real life context would be “stigmatized groups, under achieve on classroom exams, standardized tests and tasks that have been previously suggested as culture free” This can impact a child and their family in many ways such as their self esteem or even character. When. child is bullied or judged by other kids it can be hard especially if their family is made fun of as well. If a child comes from a low income background they may not be able to afford what other kids are getting which can cause them to feel sad and left out, causing others to make fun of them that they have no money to get what ever it is or do what ever it is.
One situation can be a child with a disability. I see a risk factor here because they are different and need different care. They need to be taught a different technique so if a child is in a classroom other children may notice they are different and treated different by a teacher or peer they can be made fun of and stereotypes can happen with rumors. risk factors can be bullied, judged, self esteem issues, feelings of resentment or even harm to them selves or others.
Reply daisy
An experience that I lived through with Stereotype threat happened while working in the paint department of a hardware store. Men would often come into the department and I would hear them making comments that a women shouldn’t be working in that department. They would say things like ” they won’t know, because they are women”. We would get extensive trainings and I knew a lot about all of the merchandise in my department, however many of the men wouldn’t want to give me the opportunity by asking me simply because they saw that I was a female in what they classify as a male department.
One of the five “potential consequences” of stereotype threat that grabbed my attention was number 1. It states that stigmatized groups underachieve on classroom exams, standardized tests, and tasks that have preciously been suggested to be “vulture free” and relatively “pure” measures of cognitive ability. This stereotype threat can impact children and their families because it it leads individuals to underperform and doubt themselves and their abilities. The pressure makes individuals develop stress, over think and question themselves which leads them to monitor their own performances. This will affect the child’s family because the family can develop a lack of confidence , and essentially start to believe in this stereotype threat that wont allow their family to grow.
As for the list of five situations that were more conductive to stereotype threat. I can personally see the risk factors on number 4. Evaluate scrutiny. This states it is a situation in which an individual believes that his or her ability in a stereotypic domain will be evaluated can create a strong sense of group identity and stereotype threat. When a test is described as being able to provide reliable and valid information about one’s ability in a stereotyped domain, feelings of anxiety and intrusive thoughts of failure can arise, harming performance.
I can see this as being a risk factor because when we hear or believe something about ourselves we get into our head and we don’t perform to the best of our ability. We begin to believe these stereotypes about ourselves and therefor can not strive and move forward.
As mentioned above…… when working at the hardware store and when I first got transferred to the paint department. I was intimidated to approach the customers after hearing their comments because I felt that they would criticize my knowledge based off of me being a female.
