Student Perceptions of Campus Cultural Climate by Race

Five hundred and seventy-eight African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White undergraduates responded to a questionnaire assessing perceptions and experiences of the campus cultural climate. Results revealed significant differences between racial and ethnic groups on multiple dimensions of the campus cultural climate. African American students consistently reported significantly more racial—ethnic conflict on campus; pressure to conform to stereotypes; and less equitable treatment by faculty, staff, and teaching assistants. White students' responses reflected limited perceptions of racial—ethnic tensions and a university climate characterized by respect for diversity. Counseling implications are presented.     

The consequences of chronic stereotype threat: Domain disidentification and abandonment

Stereotype threat impairs performance across many domains. Despite a wealth of research, the long-term consequences of chronic stereotype threat have received little empirical attention. Beyond the immediate impact on performance, the experience of chronic stereotype threat is hypothesized to lead to domain disidentification and eventual domain abandonment. Stereotype threat is 1 explanation why African Americans and Hispanic/Latino(a)s "leak" from each juncture of the academic scientific pipeline in disproportionately greater numbers than their White and Asian counterparts. Using structural equation modeling, we tested the stereotype threat-disidentification hypothesis across 3 academic years with a national longitudinal panel of undergraduate minority science students. Experience of stereotype threat was associated with scientific disidentification, which in turn predicted a significant decline in the intention to pursue a scientific career. Race/ethnicity moderated this effect, whereby the effect was evident for Hispanic/Latino(a) students but not for all African American students. We discuss findings in terms of understanding chronic stereotype threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence

African American college students tend to obtain lower grades than their White counterparts, even when they enter college with equivalent test scores. Past research suggests that negative stereotypes impugning Black students' intellectual abilities play a role in this underperformance. Awareness of these stereotypes can psychologically threaten African Americans, a phenomenon known as “stereotype threat” (Steele & Aronson, 1995), which can in turn provoke responses that impair both academic performance and psychological engagement with academics. An experiment was performed to test a method of helping students resist these responses to stereotype threat. Specifically, students in the experimental condition of the experiment were encouraged to see intelligence—the object of the stereotype—as a malleable rather than fixed capacity. This mind-set was predicted to make students' performances less vulnerable to stereotype threat and help them maintain their psychological engagement with academics, both of which could help boost their college grades. Results were consistent with predictions. The African American students (and, to some degree, the White students) encouraged to view intelligence as malleable reported greater enjoyment of the academic process, greater academic engagement, and obtained higher grade point averages than their counterparts in two control groups.     

Stereotype Threat: A Meta‐Analysis Comparing African Americans to Hispanic Americans1

Stereotype threat theory posits an explanation for cognitive underperformance in groups based on social stereotypes. When stereotypes are negatively related to a cognitive task, awareness of this relationship leads to decreased performance on that task; however, this underperformance can be reduced by actively dismissing the stereotype or disguising the nature of the task. This meta‐analysis examined the effects of stereotype threat nullification among African Americans and Hispanic Americans. There was a moderate improvement in scores for both African American and Hispanic Americans' performance when stereotype threat was nullified (d = 0.52). However, there were no differences between African Americans and Hispanic Americans or between the experimental methods used to create stereotype threats in terms of their effects on the outcomes.     

Sociocultural theories,academic achievement,and African American adolescents in a multicultural context: a review of the cultural incompatibility perspective

Some theories have posited that African American youth are academic underachievers because of sociocultural factors. We label this point of view the cultural incompatibility perspective. Ogbu’s oppositional culture theory and Steele’s stereotype threat theory are selected as popular examples of this viewpoint. A critical review of the literature on these particular theories was conducted. It was concluded that there is limited empirical support for the cultural incompatibility perspective on African American academic achievement. This raises questions about the focus on academic underachievement among African Americans versus high achievement among other ethnic/racial groups. Implications of the empirical findings on the incompatibility perspective for the role of African American culture in Black student achievement are discussed.     

Mathematics self-efficacy: stereotype threat versus resilience

Children’s academic self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of achievement (Wigfield and Eccles, Contemporary Educational Psychology 25(1): 68–81, 2000). The present research examined mathematics self-efficacy and the relationship of racial context from the perspective of two competing bodies of research. Stereotype threat theory would predict that, under conditions where negative stereotypes are salient, self-efficacy would decrease. So, Black/African American students in primarily White classrooms would be predicted to report lower self-efficacy. However, other research suggests that Black/African American students demonstrate fortitude even under disadvantage (e.g., Graham, Review of Educational Research, 64(1): 55–117, 1994). We examined the mathematics self-efficacy of 170 fifth-grade students. In contrast to stereotype threat theory, results suggested that Black/African American students’ self-efficacy remained stable regardless of the racial breakdown of the class. However, White students demonstrated elevated self-efficacy when in predominantly Black/African American classrooms. These results could not be explained by differences in classroom environments. Results are discussed in terms of resilience, ethnic identity and White identity.     

Race matters: the relation between race and general campus climate

This study examined students' perceptions of racial and academic climate as possible mediators of racial differences in the perception of the university's general campus climate (GCC). African American (n = 182), Latino (n = 212), Asian American (n = 358), and White (n = 671) students evaluated their perception of racial, academic, and general campus climates. As expected, racial minority students, particularly African Americans, perceived more negative general campus, racial, and academic climates than White students. Somewhat contrary to prediction, results indicated that racial differences in the perception of GCC were more closely related to perceptions of the academic than racial climate for members of all racial groups at all educational levels. Students' academic and racial experiences were the best predictors of their perception of GCC.     

African Americans and High Blood Pressure: The Role of Stereotype Threat

We examined the effect of stereotype threat on blood pressure reactivity. Compared with European Americans, and African Americans under little or no stereotype threat, African Americans under stereotype threat exhibited larger increases in mean arterial blood pressure during an academic test, and performed more poorly on difficult test items. We discuss the significance of these findings for understanding the incidence of hypertension among African Americans.     

Stereotype Threat,Social Class,Gender, and Academic Under-Achievement: When Our Reputation Catches Up to Us and Takes Over

According to Steele (1997), negative stereotypes about intellectual abilities can act as a threat that disrupts the performance of students targeted by bad reputations. Previous research on stereotype threat has showed that on a stereotype-relevant test, stigmatized group members (e.g., African Americans) performed worse than others on an intellectual verbal task. However, when the instructions accompanying the test did not create stereotype threat, stigmatized group members' performance was equal to that of other participants. In this paper, we present studies documenting the effect of stereotype threat and discuss ways to counter it. Two strategies derived from Self-Categorization Theory (Turner & Oakes, 1989) and Self-Affirmation Theory (Steele, 1988) are presented, tested, and discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

“You're overreacting!”: The ambiguity of Asian American microaggressions delegitimizes collective action

Asian Americans are lauded as the model minority who are intelligent and industrious. Simultaneously, they are deemed as perpetual foreigners. The current research examines how racial microaggressions expressed by a White American source toward an Asian American target affect perceptions of the perpetrator and target. White Americans and Asian Americans read about an interaction between two college students, where the racial microaggression made was either an ambiguous expression of the model minority myth (MMM; all studies), an ambiguous perpetual foreigner stereotype (all studies), an unambiguous MMM (all studies), or no racial bias (Studies 2 and 3). Findings indicate that both Whites and Asian Americans respond differently—when exposed to the aforementioned conditions—regarding perceived racism of the White perpetrator and appropriateness of response by the Asian American target; however, they respond similarly regarding perceived legitimacy of collective action by the target. Nevertheless, Whites and Asian Americans deemed the ambiguous microaggression against the target as a model minority not racist relative to unambiguous MMM. Our findings show that ambiguous forms of bias toward Asian Americans go “under the radar” of both Whites and Asian Americans as being racist and contribute to the maintenance of the racial status quo.     

Exploring the Links Between Racial Identity Attitudes and Psychological Feelings of Closeness in African American College Students

The relationship between racial identity attitudes and psychological closeness to various African American groups was examined in 171 African American college students at a predominantly White southeastern university. The data were collected using the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Parham, 1985), and a scale measuring Perceived Psychological Closeness to African Americans. The closeness scale is a 14-item instrument that was found to represent (in this sample) psychological closeness to 4 African American groups. Internalized racial identity attitudes indicated positive feelings toward various groups of African Americans. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that internalized racial identity attitudes were predictive of psychological closeness to African Americans, although this varied somewhat depending on the subgroup.     

On interpreting stereotype threat as accounting for African American-White differences on cognitive tests

C. M. Steele and J. Aronson (1995) showed that making race salient when taking a difficult test affected the performance of high-ability African American students, a phenomenon they termed stereotype threat. The authors document that this research is widely misinterpreted in both popular and scholarly publications as showing that eliminating stereotype threat eliminates the African American-White difference in test performance. In fact, scores were statistically adjusted for differences in students' prior SAT performance, and thus, Steele and Aronson's findings actually showed that absent stereotype threat, the two groups differ to the degree that would be expected based on differences in prior SAT scores. The authors caution against interpreting the Steele and Aronson experiment as evidence that stereotype threat is the primary cause of African American-White differences in test performance.     

A longitudinal examination of the role of stereotype threat and racial climate on college outcomes for minorities at elite institutions

This paper employs hierarchical linear models to explore the long-term effects of stereotype threat on college outcomes for students in the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen. Performance burden was negatively related to both grades and social satisfaction with college. Social satisfaction with college was also significantly impacted by students’ perception of the campus racial climate. This paper examines the combined impact of performance burden, campus racial climate, cumulative GPA, and social life satisfaction early in college on 4 year graduation rates. Overall, while there are large initial differences in the likelihood of graduating on time for black and Hispanic students relative to whites, these differences are completely explained by assessments of campus racial climate, social life satisfaction, and grades. The findings suggest that interventions to reduce stereotype threat and improve the racial atmosphere on campus may go a long way towards reducing—and in some cases eliminating—disparities between racial/ethnic groups in college outcomes.     

Racial identity and the MMPI in African American male college students

The relation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to the Racial Identity Attitude Scale--Black, Short Form (RIAS-B) was examined among 50 African American male college students in a reanalysis of unpublished MMPI data described in R. H. Dana (1993). This permitted study of relationships between MMPI scores and specific psychological variables hypothesized to produce cultural differences among African Americans. Results indicated RIAS-B scale scores functioned as predictors of MMPI scale scores. Similar research with the MMPI-2 incorporating larger samples that more adequately represent African American heterogeneity is needed. Methodological implications of these findings for MMPI-2 research with ethnic and racial groups are discussed, emphasizing the importance of research to depathologize African American racial and cultural identity.     

Racial Stereotypes and Gender in Context: African Americans at Predominantly Black and Predominantly White Colleges

In this study, relationships among stereotype expectations, gender, and academic self-concept and performance of African American students in predominantly White and predominantly Black college contexts were examined. Stereotype expectations are students' perceptions of biased treatment and evaluation within their major classroom settings (SE). Findings indicated that students' majors were related to stereotype expectations, as well as to their academic competence. Our results also provide evidence of gender and institutional interactions in the relationships between stereotype expectations and academic outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the need to examine issues of race and gender in the academic experiences of African Americans, as well as how their specific school and classroom contexts may influence their experiences.     

The difference isn't black and white: stereotype threat and the race gap on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

This study addresses recent criticisms aimed at the interpretation of stereotype threat research and methodological weaknesses of previous studies that have examined race differences on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). African American and White undergraduates completed the APM under three conditions. In two threat conditions, participants received either standard APM instructions (standard threat) or were told that the APM was an IQ test (high threat). In a low threat condition, participants were told that the APM was a set of puzzles and that the researchers wanted their opinions of them. Results supported the stereotype threat interpretation of race differences in cognitive ability test scores. Although African American participants underperformed Whites under both standard and high threat instructions, they performed just as well as Whites did under low threat instructions.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Scores of African Americans1

The present experiment examined stereotype threat effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) scores of African Americans. Support was found for Hypothesis 1, which stated that African Americans would experience significantly greater stereotype threat than Whites during an IQ testing situation. Hypothesis 2 proposed that a significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction would occur in which the mean difference in intelligence test scores between African Americans and Whites (favoring the latter group) would be largest when the test was framed as a measure of intelligence, and smaller when framed as nonindicative of intelligence. Limited support for Hypothesis 2 was found in that a marginally significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction was obtained. However, the interaction failed to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Although preliminary, the present findings provide some support for the notion that stereotype threat compromises the intelligence test performance of African Americans.     

Exploring the Relationships Between Racial/Cultural Identity and Ego Identity Among African Americans and Mexican Americans

Relationships between collective identity and ego identity were examined among 299 African American and Mexican American university students. Participants completed scales measuring racial or cultural identity and ego identity. Regression analyses indicated that ego identity was significantly related to racial identity for African Americans and cultural identity for Mexican Americans.     

National ethnic and racial disparities in disciplinary practices: A contextual analysis in American secondary schools

Previous research has documented ethnic/racial disparities in the implementation of school discipline, including exclusionary practices. The current study focused on ethnic/racial disparities in four types of school exclusionary policies through the Civil Rights Data Collection (2013–2014) based on 15,901 middle and 18,303 high schools from the United States. Consistent with an ecological model of multi-contextual influences, school- and region-level characteristics were tested in a multi-level analytic model. Sex, disability status, and ethnicity/race were estimated at level 1, with the following school-level predictors at level 2: proportion of youth eligible for free or reduced lunch, school size, diversity (percentage of students of different ethnicities/races in school), urban/suburban/rural locale, and region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). Findings provided robust evidence of persistent discrepancies in disciplinary practices across ethnic/racial groups. Specifically, African American students and students self-identifying as two or more races were found to be at greater risk for school discipline actions across all disciplinary measures in both middle and high schools. Regarding school-level variables, students from lower SES schools and smaller schools were at greater risk for some disciplinary measures. Unexpected findings were found for regional differences, as Midwestern schools had significantly higher rates for most disciplinary measures as compared to Southern schools. Moreover, ethnic/racial discrepancies were moderated by school-level characteristics, such that African American students and students self-identifying with two or more races were more likely to be disciplined at low SES schools and at schools with greater diversity.