Abstract
The Coleman Report has inspired various lines of inquiry offering new understandings of inequality of educational opportunity and the persistent achievement gaps in American schools. Of the various models and theories, stereotype threat, which focuses on social-psychological dimensions of inequality, has received considerable attention over the past twenty years. But what if stereotype threat theory, and associated interventions to combat it, had existed fifty years ago? Using data from the original Equality of Educational Opportunity Study, we find, consistent with the stereotype threat literature, that African American students confronted with more threatening educational contexts are burdened by a less favorable self-image; this finding partially explains how students’ internalization of racial stereotypes depresses their test scores. Based on these findings and on results from numerous laboratory and field experiments documenting the impact of stereotype threat and how to mitigate it, we explore its usefulness for studying educational inequality in the years to come.
- Copyright © 2016 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Reproduction by the United States Government in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose. Research on this paper was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (R305A110136 and R305C050055) and the Spencer Foundation (201500044). Findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the supporting agencies. Direct correspondence to: Geoffrey D. Borman at geoffrey.borman{at}wisc.edu, School of Education, 348 Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706-1326; and Jaymes Pyne at jpyne{at}wisc.edu.
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