This paper investigates the impact of stereotype threat on young women’s academic achievement in high school physics classes. Stereotype threat is the reinforcement of a negative stereotype. Results show that, although females underperformed when exposed to explicit and implicit stereotype threat conditions, their performance was identical to that of males when stereotypes were nullified.
Bathgate, Schunn, and Correnti investigate students’ motivation toward science across three dimensions: the context or setting, the way in which students interact with science materials or ideas, and the activity topic. Findings point to the importance of understanding children’s perceptions of specific science topics, not just science in general.
This Stocklmayer, Rennie, and Gilbert article outlines current challenges in preparing youth to go into science careers and to be scientifically literate citizens. The authors suggest creating partnerships between informal and formal education to address these challenges in school.