Interrelations Between Mindset Beliefs, Stereotype Threat, Motivation, and Achievement at the Intersection of Gender/Race

• In Event: Perceptions of the Self, Social Identities, and STEM Fields: Influences on STEM Motivation and Participation

Abstract

Objectives

Students’ psychological experiences in their mathematics classes play a critical role in their
engagement, interest, and persistence. Often, however, STEM learning environments uniquely
threaten females and students from underrepresented racially minoritized backgrounds (URM)
due to stereotypes about who can be successful – as a result, their experiences, expectations, and performance might be particularly affected by their perceptions of teachers’ mindset beliefs. In this study, we thought to explore whether (1) the relationship between students’ individual
growth mindset beliefs and stereotype threat is mediated by students’ perceptions of their
teachers’ growth mindset beliefs; (2) students’ individual mindset beliefs, their perceptions of
their teachers’ mindset beliefs, and stereotype threat predict math achievement via success
expectancy; and (3) the interplay between these variables varies by social identity.

Theoretical Framework

STEM learning environments can produce stereotype threat and inform success expectancy, both of which are associated with achievement and moderated by social identity (Jacobs & Eccles, 2000). While stereotypical beliefs may be an overlooked barrier for positive psychological experiences in STEM among female and URM students, holding a growth mindset may operate as a filter of environmental cues (i.e., perceptions of their teachers’ beliefs), potentially reducing the experience of stereotype threat and, in turn, increasing success expectancy.

Methods

This study draws on the National Study of Learning Mindsets (Yeager, 2019), a longitudinal,
randomized trial conducted among a nationally-representative sample of 9th graders from 139
randomly sampled public schools in the U.S. The sample for this study included students who
were assigned to a control condition and of whom records of race/gender were provided
(n=5,053; 49.1% female; 44.4% URM).
Baseline individual growth mindset beliefs were collected 1–4 weeks before the control
activities, students’ perceptions of their math teachers’ growth mindset beliefs, stereotype threat, and success expectancy 2-13 weeks after the semester began, and math GPA at the end of 9th grade. Multi-group SEM models were specified to explore patterns at the intersection of race and gender (URM-female; non-URM-female; URM-male; non-URM-male).

Results

The relationship between students’ mindset beliefs and stereotype threat was mediated via
perceptions of teacher mindset beliefs (RQ1). Indirect effects between students’ individual and
their perceived teacher mindset beliefs on math GPA were significant for all tested predictors, all
of which feed into success expectancy (RQ2). Across all groups, the strongest negative association was between students’ perceptions of their math teachers’ mindset beliefs and
stereotype threat, and this association was strongest for URM-male students, for whom
perceptions of teachers' mindset beliefs fully mediated the relationship between personal mindset beliefs and stereotype threat (RQ3).

Significance

Overall, the findings suggest that above and beyond students’ individual growth mindset beliefs,
students’ perceptions of their teachers’ growth mindset beliefs are crucial in creating supportive,
non-threatening learning environments for all students. This finding has important implications for motivational intervention research, suggesting that targeting students’ individual mindset beliefs may not be sufficient in creating positive psychological learning experiences and environments, rather, it may be necessary to target the learning context itself using teacher-focused interventions.

Authors

• Claudia C. Sutter, CourseKata and University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Christopher Leland Williams, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Chris S. Hulleman, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author