Assessing a Stereotype Threat Intervention Before the Placement Test at a Community College

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate if a two-prong stereotype threat intervention strategy would impact placement scores of students of color. Students of color are largely enrolled in developmental education courses at a greater rate than other students (78% and 75%, respectively). Students of color are also more susceptible to the deleterious effects of stereotype threat in the higher education context (Steele, 2011). Stereotype threat is the anxiety that impacts test performances that has the potential to reinforce internalized negative stereotypes (Steele, 2011). This anxiety amplifies internalized negative stereotypes, reduces working memory, and decreases performance, creating a harmful self-feeding cycle (Eschenbach et al., 2014). A quasi-experimental study was conducted to compare placement test scores of students who received a brief, 5-minute stereotype threat intervention versus those students who did not receive the intervention. The interventions, administered prior to participants taking the placement test, consisted of two parts: a role model component that exposed students to the biography of a prominent faculty member who had earned many academic and professional awards, and a self-affirmation that asked students to briefly write about a value that is important to them. Six statistically significant results were identified when test scores were disaggregated by race, gender, and age: reading test scores went up for Black, White, male, female, and traditional-aged students, and essay test scores went up for male students. Keywords: stereotype threat, stereotype threat intervention, in-group role model, self-affirmation, placement test