Threatened by Stereotype: An investigation of the effect of stereotype threat on female and minority students’ STEM learning in the context of a computer intervention
Huang, K., Cotten, S. R., & Ball, C. (2015). Threatened by Stereotype: An investigation of the effect of stereotype threat on female and minority students’ STEM learning in the context of a computer intervention. Proceedings of the iConference 2015.
To contribute to the growing field of STEM education, we examined the presence of stereotype threat for
female and African American students during a large-scale computing intervention. Namely, this paper
examines whether gender and race have an effect on students’ self-perceived technology efficacy,
technology anxiety, STEM attitude, and college expectations. In total, 1,085 student survey responses
were analyzed in order to better understand the effects of stereotype threat on females’ and minorities’
STEM learning. The results suggest that gender was a consistent determinant of STEM attitude and
technology efficacy. Furthermore, race was found to be a predictor of technology anxiety. In regards to
college expectations, gender and race were not predictors. Instead, STEM attitude and self-efficacy were
found to be positively associated with students’ expectations to attend college.