A Stereotype Threat Account of Boys' Academic Underachievement

Abstract

Three studies examined the role of stereotype threat in boys' academic underachievement.Study 1 (children aged 4-10, n = 238) showed that girls from age 4 and boys from age 7 believed, and thought adults believed, that boys are academically inferior to girls. Study 2 manipulated stereotype threat, informing children aged 7-8 (n = 162) that boys tend to do worse than girls at school. This manipulation hindered boys' performance on a reading, writing, and math test, but did not affect girls'. Study 3 counteracted stereotype threat, informing children aged 6-9 (n= 184) that boys and girls were expected to perform similarly.This improved the performance of boys and did not affect that of girls.

Does academic and social self-concept and motivation explain the effect of grading on students’ achievement?

“…Research has shown that children already at an early age have developed a self-image in line with expectancies and values their parents and teachers hold (Hartley and Sutton 2013;Molden and Dweck 2006). Therefore, it is of importance to create a learning situation in school which develops students' self-confidence in a positive way.…”

“…When investigating final grades in compulsory school, found that the gender differences in grades, benefitting girls, were almost fully explained by girls showing a greater interest in learning. Hartley and Sutton (2013) found that girls and boys at an early age hold the belief that adults expect girls to do better in school, compared to boys. If these expectations and values are emphasized, the negative effect on boys' reading, writing, and achievement in math will increase, while girls' achievements are not affected by these kinds of beliefs.…”

Does stereotype threat influence performance of girls in stereotyped domains? A meta-analysis

“…However, counterintuitive evidence regarding stigma consciousness has also been found more recently: some studies failed to find convincing evidence that children explicitly believe in the traditional stereotype (Ambady et al, 2001;Kurtz-Costes, Rowley, Harris-Britt, & Woods, 2008), other studies found that children believe in non-traditional stereotypes (Martinot, Bagès, & Désert, 2012;Martinot & Désert, 2007), and another study found that teachers do not hold stereotypical beliefs (Leedy, LaLonde, & Runk, 2003). Additionally a more recent study found that when it comes to overall academic competency 6-to 10-year-olds hold the stereotype that girls outperform boys (Hartley & Sutton, 2013), and these children actually believe that adults hold those stereotypes as well. A stereotype threat manipulation addressing this stereotype actually negatively influenced the performance of boys on a test that included different domains, including mathematics.…”

Intelligence as a Malleable Construct

“…In one set of studies (Hartley and Sutton 2013 ), boys underperformed on math, reading, and writing assessments when they held the belief that boys were "inferior at academics" and also when they were explicitly provided this message prior to working on the assessments. Interestingly, these effects disappeared when boys were instead told that there were no real differences in abilities between boys and girls.…”