Stereotype Threat in the Real World

Hundreds of laboratory experiments have shown that stereotype threat can undermine intellectual performance in the laboratory. But do the same processes demonstrated in the laboratory operate in the real world? And, can they help us explain and remediate achievement gaps between blacks and whites, well to do and poor, and women and men? In this chapter, we take up this question, reviewing the most pertinent evidence and the best-known critiques of stereotype threat. Specifically, we argue that the confluence of evidence from meta-analyses of experiments, longitudinal studies, field experiments, natural experiments, and field interventions points strongly to the conclusion that stereotype threat is a very useful construct for understanding and improving real-world achievement.