On Thursday September 24th, Dr. Valerie Purdie-Vaughns came to visit the school for a Convocation*. The event was held in the M-Wing Theater, free of charge to participants. Students could in fact receive “ULTRA Credit” for attending provided they bring their identification cards to swipe in with designated staff. As expected, the theater was filled to capacity and those remaining were provided seating in the designated “overflow room” in L112 and watched from a live-feed camera. Admittedly, I was in the overflow room during the Convocation and the camera failed for a short period of time, so part of the information about the event will have to be obtained by asking someone who was in the theater at the time. I am confident that I can still give those of you reading this the gist of it.
Dr. Purdie-Vaughns had at one point been a colleague of Dr. Claude M. Steele, author of a collaborative thesis on stereotype threat and social identity, Whistling Vivaldi. In fact, part of the former’s work was featured in the thesis**. Instead of just talking at the audience, so to speak, she attempted to bring them through the mindsets explored in the thesis. For example, she asks the audience to consider the phenomenon of two people almost instantly bonding with each other upon learning that they have the same birthday, even when there are few other things in common between them. I recall hearing a few cheers when it was revealed that two audience members shared the same birthday.
In addition, she stresses the fact that most effects of stereotype threat occur subconsciously, meaning that people do not always realize that they are carrying extra pressure. She does make it a point, however, to mention that many are also consciously aware of stereotypes and constantly feel pressured to represent the entire group with which they identify. I am aware that it may be impossible to prevent someone from being aware of stereotypes and thus being affected, but upon leaving the Convocation I feel more compelled to avoid using stereotypes as an excuse for shortcomings, both for my own and for others.
*convocation: (n) a large formal assembly of people; a formal ceremony at a college or university, as for the conferring of awards (Oxford Dictionaries)
**“Essentially, as long as a negative stereotype exists for a particular group and this negative stereotype is present in a given social setting, that group’s members will likely feel a measure of anxiety which can prevent them from performing at their optimal level. Stereotype threat is most vividly observed in individuals who identify strongly with the negatively stereotyped social group, who identify with the intellectual domain in which they are being tested and who expect discrimination – perhaps due to past experiences in their personal lives (Steele, Spencer & Aronson, 2002).” (“What Is Stereotype Threat?”, http://www.whatispsychology.biz/about-stereotype-threat-define)
***Steele, Claude M. Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011. Print.