Stereotype Threatening Contexts Enhance Encoding of Negative Feedback to Engender Underperformance and Anxiety

Forbes, Chad E.; Duran, Kelly A.; Leitner, Jordan B.; Magerman, Adam B.

doi:10.1521/soco.2015.33.6.605

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…While we do not directly test this question in the present study, past work provides some insight. Recent work by Forbes, Duran, Leitner, and Magerman (2015; see also Forbes & Leitner, 2014) suggests that a stressful context can influence what information negatively stigmatized students remember. Specifically, when put in a stressful situation, stigmatized students, for example, women in math domains, pay more attention to negative information and, in recall tasks, recall negative information better than positive information.…”

Section: Concluding Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Know That I Should Be Here”: Lessons Learned From the First-Year Performance of Borderline University Applicants

Covarrubias

Gallimore

Okagaki

2016

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Pr

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At many higher education institutions, admissions decisions often rely on standardized test scores and high school grades; yet, they are less reliable predictors for applicants falling slightly below cutoff points, what we call borderline applicants. Since borderline applicants are often from underrepresented backgrounds and diverted to 2-year institutions, this may potentially jeopardize efforts to increase campus diversity. Using a mixed-methods approach, two studies investigated an "admissions experiment" designed to increase campus diversity by admitting 34 borderline applicants into a summer bridge program. Study 1 compared program participants' performance to two comparison samples of regularly admitted students (N ¼ 912). Compared with a matched sample, borderline students performed better after the first semester and comparably after the first year. Study 2 identified program components that helped or undermined participants' college adjustment and performance. Results suggested several program improvements that might enhance underrepresented students' performance and experiences on 4-year campuses.

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Section: Concluding Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Know That I Should Be Here”: Lessons Learned From the First-Year Performance of Borderline University Applicants

Covarrubias

Gallimore

Okagaki

2016

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Pr

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“…Experiencing racial bias (and seeing others tolerate its expression) in the classroom triggers justifiable concerns about whether math is a discipline where students of color will be stereotyped, where others will believe that they do not belong, and where they will be marginalized, ghettoized, or otherwise pressured to acculturate to the "default" (White) ways of being (Lewis et al, 2019;Murphy & Taylor, 2012). Unsurprisingly, contending with these types of concerns can increase minoritized learners' vigilance for other threatening situational cues (McGee & Martin, 2011;Murphy et al, 2007), heighten their anxiety (Forbes et al, 2015;Schmader et al, 2009), and foment distrust (Cohen & Steele, 2002). In the mathematics education literature, scholars have used the term emotional labor to describe the exertion and self-regulation needed to cope with the day-to-day racial bias expression that can be present in math environments.…”

Section: Raising Concern For Students Of Color: Highlighting the Troubling Effects Of Racial Bias In Math Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Increasing Equity and Inclusion in Mathematics Classrooms: Exploring the Potential of Proactive Confrontation in Teacher-Education

Kroeper¹,

Mc²

2020

Preprint

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Expressions of racial bias in middle grades math classrooms pose a threat to the full inclusion and equitable treatment of students of color. To combat these biased expressions, mathematics education scholars have recommended that math teachers undergo special training to employ culturally relevant practices as part of their teacher education. According to teacher-educators, however, motivating and helping their teacher-pupils implement culturally relevant classroom strategies has proven somewhat challenging. This is in part due to reluctance among teachers to adopt culturally relevant practices in their own teaching and a lack of fidelity when attempting to enact culturally relevant strategies. To overcome the challenges of reluctance and fidelity and to support teacher-educators as they train their teacher-pupils to adopt culturally relevant strategies in math classrooms, we propose that teacher-educators employ a proactive confrontation approach. We view proactive confrontation as a practical and useful tool for math teacher-educators to challenge racial bias expression and to create more equitable and inclusive math learning environments that inspire and motivate learning and performance among all students. By using proactive confrontations, teacher-educators can raise their teacher-pupils’ self-awareness that engaging in biased expression is common (but not inevitable) in math classrooms and raise their concern that bias expression is harmful to students of color and, therefore, deserves proactive attention and action. Lastly, teacher- educators can provide examples of culturally relevant classroom activities to their teacher-pupils and help them to develop and implement such practices on their own. In the present synthesis, we provide examples of how the proactive confrontation approach can be integrated with math teacher-education programs and discuss some of the persisting challenges facing math teacher-educators who choose to proactively confront racial bias.

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“…Past research suggests that these situations, termed stereotype threatening situations (Steele and Aronson, 1995), facilitate attention toward (Forbes et al , 2008; Forbes and Leitner, 2014) and encoding of negative, stereotype confirming feedback received during the performance (Forbes et al , 2015). These biases in encoding may also undermine performance on future math tests and promote more general negative affective experiences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When individuals find themselves in evaluative situations that prime their membership in a negatively stereotyped group they are likely to exhibit physiological and psychological markers of stress ( Schmader et al , 2008 ). Past research suggests that these situations, termed stereotype threatening situations ( Steele and Aronson, 1995 ), facilitate attention toward ( Forbes et al , 2008 ; Forbes and Leitner, 2014 ) and encoding of negative, stereotype confirming feedback received during the performance ( Forbes et al , 2015 ). These biases in encoding may also undermine performance on future math tests and promote more general negative affective experiences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Past research provides direct evidence that stereotype threatened women attend to and encode information associated with negative, stereotype confirming feedback better than positive, stereotype disconfirming feedback and non-threatened men and women ( Forbes and Leitner, 2014 ; Forbes et al , 2015 ). Furthermore, these attentional and encoding biases have negative downstream consequences on women’s performance and self-perceptions in STEM domains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stereotype-based stressors facilitate emotional memory neural network connectivity and encoding of negative information to degrade math self-perceptions among women

Forbes

Amey

Magerman

et al. 2018

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Stress engendered by stereotype threatening situations may facilitate encoding of negative, stereotype confirming feedback received during a performance among women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It is unclear, however, whether this process is comprised of the same neurophysiological mechanisms evident in any emotional memory encoding context, or if this encoding bias directly undermines positive self-perceptions in the stigmatized domain. A total of 160 men and women completed a math test that provided veridical positive and negative feedback, a memory test for feedback, and math self-enhancing and valuing measures in a stereotype threatening or neutral context while continuous electroencephalography activity and startle probe responses to positive and negative feedback was recorded. Indexing amygdala activity to feedback via startle responses and emotional memory network connectivity elicited during accurate recognition of positive and negative feedback via graph analyses, only stereotype threatened women encoded negative feedback better when they exhibited increased amygdala activity and emotional memory network connectivity in response to said feedback. Emotional memory biases, in turn, predicted decreases in women’s self-enhancing, math valuing and performance. Findings provide an emotional memory encoding-based mechanism for well-established findings indicating that women have more negative math self-perceptions compared with men regardless of actual performance.

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Stereotype Threatening Contexts Enhance Encoding of Negative Feedback to Engender Underperformance and Anxiety

Cited by 15 publications

References 39 publications

“I Know That I Should Be Here”: Lessons Learned From the First-Year Performance of Borderline University Applicants

“I Know That I Should Be Here”: Lessons Learned From the First-Year Performance of Borderline University Applicants

Toward Increasing Equity and Inclusion in Mathematics Classrooms: Exploring the Potential of Proactive Confrontation in Teacher-Education

Stereotype-based stressors facilitate emotional memory neural network connectivity and encoding of negative information to degrade math self-perceptions among women

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