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Many stereotypes exist about the academic performance of learners based on categories such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Stereotype Threat suggests that people can underperform in many academic areas, including learning to read and write, when faced with this prospect of being judged.
Stereotype Threat occurs when a negative stereotype that exists in a culture about a group results in suboptimal academic performance by members of that group. This can impact performance even in classrooms where the learner does not personally experience prejudiced behavior toward them by teachers or peers. This is particularly true on tests where students are told the test is diagnostic of their intellectual abilities. Also, individuals who do not believe the stereotype is true about their group will often still experience the negative effects of Stereotype Threat.
People can hold two types of stereotypes:
In the United States, Stereotype Threat impacts literacy for multiple groups:
Students' awareness of stereotypes about different groups increases with age, and students who are from groups that are often subject to negative academic stereotypes are even more aware of those stereotypes than students from non-stereotyped groups.
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