It is evident that America is a melting pot and always has been a country with diverse groups of people. Due to the increasing racial and ethnic diversity, people are labeled and grouped into categories mainly for convenience and familiarity (Healey & O’Brien, 2015). Over the course of this semester, I have learned numerous terms, concepts, and theories concerning minority groups in the United States. Of those things, the most intriguing and eye opening information that struck a chord inside of me concerned the stereotypes that affect minority groups, in addition to the prejudice and discrimination these group members face. Before this course, I had heard many stereotypes, joked about and ran from them, but it never occurred to me how detrimental
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Stereotype threat is defined as a predicament in which individuals are of feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes of their assigned group (). Stereotype threat is a term that was first coined by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson. These two researchers performed experiments showing that black college underclassmen scored poorly on standardized tests compared to their white peers when their race was emphasized; however, when race was not mentioned, the black students received scores equivalent to white peers.(). It is obvious that stereotypes have negative effects on individuals’ achievement and identities. Learning about stereotype threat has made me realize that I have been a victim to stereotype threat. I have chosen not to pursue several areas due to internal attributions to failure. Many students like myself have strayed away from fields and majors for this reason. …show more content…
America has a tradition of prejudice and discrimination against minority groups, which is seen during slavery and de jure segregation with the African American population and anti-immigration campaigns for several minority groups. In the past, prejudice and discrimination were more overt, or ___. However, over the years, these instances are more covert. Microaggressions would be an example. Microagressions are ____ . For instance, people have said things such as “Oh, you’re pretty for a black girl” and “You speak so well” simply because I’m African American. Because of the shift and subtlety, these issues are definitely hard to
Stereotype threat is defined as a predicament in which individuals are of feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes of their assigned group (). Stereotype threat is a term that was first coined by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson. These two researchers performed experiments showing that black college underclassmen scored poorly on standardized tests compared to their white peers when their race was emphasized; however, when race was not mentioned, the black students received scores equivalent to white peers.(). It is obvious that stereotypes have negative effects on individuals’ achievement and identities. Learning about stereotype threat has made me realize that I have been a victim to stereotype threat. I have chosen not to pursue several areas due to internal attributions to failure. Many students like myself have strayed away from fields and majors for this reason. …show more content…
America has a tradition of prejudice and discrimination against minority groups, which is seen during slavery and de jure segregation with the African American population and anti-immigration campaigns for several minority groups. In the past, prejudice and discrimination were more overt, or ___. However, over the years, these instances are more covert. Microaggressions would be an example. Microagressions are ____ . For instance, people have said things such as “Oh, you’re pretty for a black girl” and “You speak so well” simply because I’m African American. Because of the shift and subtlety, these issues are definitely hard to