Stereotype threat
October 30, 2012
Joshua Aronson, associate professor of applied psychology at New York University,
will discuss “Stereotype Threat and Its Implications for Colleges and College Students”
in a talk scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5. Free and open to the public, the discussion
will take place in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. A reception will follow.
Aronson studies the psychology of stigma, or the way humans respond to negative stereotypes
about their racial or gender group. He collaborated with Claude Steele of Stanford
University to publish in 1995 a landmark study on “stereotype threat,” which they
described as a performance-inhibiting phenomenon that occurs when students confront
negative expectations of the particular stereotypes assigned to them. Explains Aronson
on his Web page, “Being targeted by well-known cultural stereotypes can be very threatening.
It engenders a number of interesting psychological and physiological responses, many
of which interfere with intellectual performance and academic motivation.”
His work has shown how stereotype threat depresses the standardized test performance
of African American, Latino, and female college students. Among his findings: “Changing
the testing situation (even subtly) to reduce stereotype threat can dramatically improve
standardized test scores.”
Much can be done to boost students’ achievement and enjoyment of school by understanding
and attending to these psychological processes, “thereby unseating the power of stereotypes
and prejudice to foil the academic aspirations of young people who, just by virtue
of being born black, brown, or female, are subjected to suspicions of inferiority,”
according to Aronson.
In a profile published on the NYU Web site, Aronson said his research focuses on “all
the psychological reasons that underlie the gap between minorities and whites in terms
of academic achievement and enjoyment of school and schooling.” He traces his interest
to his childhood, during the time of desegregation: “I had friends who were black
and Latino who were tremendously smart, but once they got into the class, they were
not so smart. I remember being puzzled by that and wondering why it happened.”
His work has been cited extensively in two Supreme Court cases and is frequently referred
to by psychologists, educators, and social scientists concerned with educational equality.
Aronson earned a B.A. degree in psychology at the University of California, Santa
Cruz, and master’s and doctoral degrees in social psychology at Princeton. His honors
include a Career Award from the National Science Foundation; being named a fellow
by the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (2011); a teaching excellence
award from the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
(2009); and NYU’s Daniel E. Griffiths Research Prize.
Sponsors of the talk are the offices of the Dean of Faculty and Vice President for
Academic Affairs, the Faculty Network, Intergroup Relations Program, Intercultural
Studies Office and Opportunity Program.
(cover photo by Phil Scalia)
