Throughout the book, he describes a fascinating collection of experiments, mostly involving college students, that look at questions such as: Why do black and Latino students with similar SAT scores underperform white students in the classroom? And why does the same phenomenon happen to women in advanced college math classes, law schools, medical schools and business schools?Īccording to the author, the pressures that come from trying to avoid confirming a societal stereotype about one’s group can by themselves cause underperformance, particularly on the high-stakes exams on which future careers may hinge. Steele spent 20 years studying the effects of group stereotypes, primarily race and gender, on ability and performance. ![]() By associating himself with classical music, he successfully deflected others’ stereotyping of him as a dangerous black male. To deal with his own discomfort, he started whistling excerpts from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” But when he did, a remarkable thing happened: People noticeably relaxed and even smiled at him. He noticed that when he approached people on the street, they changed their behavior: They crossed to the other side of the street, clutched their purses, halted their conversations. The title of the book comes from the experience of a young African American male (who also happened to be a psychology grad student at the University of Chicago) walking around in his Hyde Park neighborhood. The book looks at the role that one’s social identity-sex, race, ethnicity-plays in the classroom and on standardized tests. Steele, Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (W.W. So when a friend (and long-time educator) mentioned the 2010 book by social psychologist Claude M. And closer to home, they remain one of our school division’s biggest challenges. ![]() educational system falls short when compared with the rest of the world. Achievement gaps have been highlighted recently in news reports about how the U.S.
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