Lindsay hopes to gain admission to graduate school to become a chemical engineer, and she needs to take the Graduate Record Exams (GRE) in physics and chemistry as part of her application. Although she has gotten excellent grades in both chemistry and physics in college, when she enters the room for her physics test, she can't help but notice that almost all of the students taking the test are male, and she is only one of a handful of female students. According to research by Claude Steele, what might be the effect of Lindsay's awareness that she is vastly outnumbered by male students?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to Claude Steele's theory of stereotype threat, when individuals are aware that they belong to a group that is negatively stereotyped in a particular domain, their performance in that domain may be negatively affected. In this case, Lindsay's awareness that she is vastly outnumbered by male students may activate the stereotype that women are not as competent in physics as men, which could impair her performance on the physics GRE. Therefore, her score on the exam will probably be lower than it would be if she were less aware of her gender identity.

Lindsay Hopes to Gain Admission to Graduate School to Become