Overcoming Stereotypes: Breaking Barriers to Nontraditional Occupations

1. Stepping up to a nontraditional challenge www.ctetrailblazers.org

2. UnderstandingNontraditional Occupations

3. A nontraditional occupation is one in which25% or less of a certain gender is represented. NTO’s for Women NTO’s for Men Aerospace Engineers Air Traffic Controllers Cartographers Dentists Foresters Funeral Directors Optometrists Urban and Regional Planners Court Reporters Dental Hygienists Insurance Appraisers Elementary/Middle School Teachers Nuclear Medicine Technicians Physical Therapists Veterinary Techs Waiters What are NTO’s?

4. What are stereotypes? Breaking the Barrier of Stereotyping Defusing the power of negative stereotypes WHAT ARE STEREOTYPES?

5. Cultural and Social Stereotypes:How we simplify the world What are stereotypes? • A stereotype is a “conventional, formulaic, or oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.” • We all use stereotypes to help us understand the world and make it simpler.

6. Identity Salience: conceived self as belonging to any one of numerous social categories (female, Irish American, child, etc.)isdeveloped by age 6.The awareness of cultural stereotypes increases dramatically between the ages of 6 and 11.Stereotypical Career Expectations are developed during this phase. What are stereotypes? Social and Cultural Stereotypes Take Hold

7. What are stereotypes? Start Overcoming Stereotypes Early • Stereotypes can affect career choices early in schooling • Anxiety about stereotypes have been shown to undermine sense of belonging for girls in math as early as middle school • Girls’ confidence in and liking of mathematics begins to wane in middle school

8. Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat By understanding the beliefs that give rise to negative stereotypes, we can begin to reduce the differences that persist in academic performance across ethnic and gender groups.

9. Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat Research on understanding and remediating ethnic and gender gaps in education Unintended Signals of Discouragement Implicit Bias Stereotype Threat

10. Unintended Signals of Discouragement Recognizing Our OwnUnintended Signals of Discouragement How to Avoid Them

11. Unintended Signals of Discouragement We maythink we knowwhat we believe and value,butSelf-Perception can be deceptive. Our true beliefs and valuesare secreted away to a subconscious level.

12. What are stereotypes? Understanding Self-Perception

13. Unintended Signals of Discouragement What do you believe? • How have your experiences influenced who you believe you should be? • Understanding what we truly believe is an important first step toward overcoming barriers that block us from achieving a goal. • Do your beliefs align with your actions? Are you aware of the messages you are sending to others?

14. President of Harvard University Lawrence “Larry” Summers, Resigned 2/21/2006 One year after his 01/14/2005 remarks Unintended Signals of Discouragement “Unintended Signal of Discouragement” Speaking at the NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce, Dr. Summers questioned the “intrinsic aptitude” of women and suggested that they might be under represented in STEM fields because of: Their relatively lower interest in high powered jobs that required massive professional commitment; and Their innate difference in abilities.

15. Unintended Signals of Discouragement Subconscious Beliefs Surface • Throughout his career, Larry Summers has been an advocate for educating girls’ for careers in the economic and financial world. • However, he consistently makes statements that suggest he believes otherwise: girls are "socialized toward nursing" while boys are "socialized toward building bridges.” • His mistake was not understanding that he subconsciously held these stereotypes to be true.

16. Implicit Bias Becoming Aware of Our Implicit Biases Recognizing Our Subconscious Beliefs

17. Implicit Bias Implicit Biases Thoughts that people may be unwilling to expressand may not even know they have “Individuals may have unconscious biases involving gender or race or religion that are quite different from their stated beliefs.”Fred Smyth, UVA Powerful Effect on Gender Equityin Science and MathematicsEngagement and Performance

18. Implicit Bias Implicit Association Test(IAT)https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

19. Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat Understanding theStereotype ThreatPhenomena How are individuals affected

20. Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat 1995 New York University, SteinhardtSchool of Culture, Education & Human DevelopmentResearch on gender “gaps” ineducational achievement and standardized test performance Stereotype Threatis the fear that one's behavior will confirm an existing stereotype of a group with which one identifies Dr. Claude Steele,Professor of Psychology Dr. Joshua Aronson,Professor of Applied Psychology

21. Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat Stereotype Threat triggers a number of psychological and physiological responses, many of which interfere with intellectual performance and academic motivation. Individuals being targeted by well-knowncultural stereotypes can feel very threatened.

22. Experimentsmakeyou think Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat A test was presented under two conditions:1. The control condition: the test was presented as these tests are always presented - as a measure of intellectual ability and preparation.2. The experimental condition: the test was presented in a non-evaluative way. The test takers were told that the researchers were not interested in measuring their ability with the test but that they just wanted to use the test to examine the psychology of verbal problem solving. Results:1. In the control condition, the African American test takers, on average, scored much lower than the white test takers2. For the white test takers there was no difference in their scores between the control condition and the experimental condition.3. For the African American test takers there was a big difference between the control condition and the experimental condition. They solved about twice as many problems on the test in the experimental condition. Moreover, there was no difference between the performance of the black test takers and the white test takers. Steele and Aronson (1995)

23. Research shows that confronting negative stereotypes can lead to: Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat • Anxiety • Dejection • Reduced self-control • Reduced working memory • Reduced creativity, flexibility, and speed • These changes are physiological and can be measured.

24. How do individuals affected by stereotype threat behave? Understanding and Remediating Stereotype Threat • Avoiding tasks • Devaluing the task to protect self from consequences of failure • Distancing themselves from group in order not to be associated with stereotype • Changing career aspirations • Negative stereotyping tendsto increase behaviors associated with the stereotype

25. Taking Action Changing the Message

26. Changing the Message How can you reduce stereotype threat? • Understand our Implicit Bias • Reframe the task and modify course materials by removing situational cues • Provide experiences and role models to help students see alternatives to the stereotype • Attribute struggles to external, temporary causes. Foster a belief that intelligence is malleable

27. Step 1. Understand Our Implicit Biases “Our preferences for racial, ethnic, and other groups may be unconscious”. Implicit bias can influence behaviors,often with “unintended signals of discouragement.” The first step in changing our attitude is awareness. Consciously planned actions can compensate for known, unconscious preferences and beliefs. Changing the Message

28. Changing the Message Step 2. Reframe tasks and modify course materials by removing situational cues • Hang a picture of Danica McKellar along side a picture of Einstein • Display Counter Stereotype Posters • Replace stereotype reinforcing literature with neutral literature • Provide Role Model Mentors • Talk about the inaccuracy of the stereotype Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director,Hayden Planetarium,American Museum of Natural History

29. Step 3. Provide experiences and role models to help students see alternatives to the stereotype Changing the Message Role Models and Mentors: Alleviate performance worries Influence our attitudes and words • Establishing a view or vision that contradicts the common view • Supporting positive social change • Encouraging acceptance of alternative attributes • Empowering individuals to succeed • Respecting individuals Create a Counter Stereotype

30. Step 4. Attribute struggles to external, temporary causes. Foster the belief that IQ is malleable. Changing the Message Students who were encouraged to view intelligence as malleable, "like a muscle" that can grow with work and effort, were more likely to indicate greater enjoyment and valuing of education, and they received higher grades.

31. Remember these hints Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat

32. Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat Be positive.Reminding studentsof achievedpositive identities . . . may be sufficient to subdue stereotype threat.

33. 2. Be Stigma Conscious.Positive stereotypes produce benefits for stereotype-associated group members when they are subtly, not blatantly, highlighted. Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat

34. Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat 3. Be aware. Performance is better or equivalent when stereotype threat is not emphasized.

35. Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat 4. Be alert.Any group canshow evidence of underperformancewhen the situationbrings attentionto the negative stereotype.

36. Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat 5. Be sensitive.Students who value and care about doing well in the stereotyped domain are hurt most by negative stereotyping.

37. 6. Be a coach.Intelligence is like a muscle, malleable and not fixed; it can be improved with practice.Students need to know this and focus on “effort” not “talent.” Reducing the Impact of Stereotype Threat

38. Breaking Barriers • Develop support programs for nontraditional students • Place pairs of nontraditional students together in one course or job site • Encourage students to stay in the class or job for a few weeks • Provide formal opportunities to meet and share problems or concerns • Provide students with positive reinforcement • Establish and maintain a mentoring program

39. http://reducingstereotypethreat.org/

40. References Krendl, Richeson, Kelley, & Heatherton, 2008www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/mechanisms.html Quinn & Spencer, 2001www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/bibliography_quinn_spencer.html Spencer, Steele, and Quinn, 1999www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/bibliography_spencer_steele_quinn.html Steele & Aronson, 1995www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/bibliography_steele_aronson.html Reducing Stereotype Threatwww.reducingstereotypethreat.org/reduce.html Math Scores Show No Gap for Girlshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/education/25math.html Ben-Zeev, Fein, and Inzlict (2005). Arousal and stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Volume 41, Issue 2, March 2005, Pages 174-181. Johns, Schmader, and Martens (2005). Knowing is half the battle. Psychological Science Volume 16 Issue 3 Page 175-179, March 2005. McIntyre (2005). A social impact trend in the effects of role models on alleviating women’s mathematics stereotype threat. CRISP, February 2005,v 10 n 9.