Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us
about the work he and his colleagues have done on a phenomenon
called 'stereotype threat'. Stereotype threat is the tendency to
expect, perceive, and be influenced by negative stereotypes
about one’s social category, such as one’s age, sex, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, profession, nationality, political
affiliation, mental health status, and so on. Stereotype threat
can be harmful by creating racial, gender, and social class
achievements gaps in schools and in the workplace and tensions
across group lines. In this interview Claude Steele explains,
among other things, what stereotype threat is and what can be
done about it. How would you explain in simple terms to people
like teachers, managers, and policymakers what stereotype threat
is and why it is important for them to be informed about it?
First, an illustration; the story of New York Times editorialist
Brent Staples. Some years ago, when he began graduate school at
the University of Chicag