SOCI 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Stereotype Threat
Document Summary
Gender and career aspirations: men and women tend to aspire towards different careers. Human capital explanations: women were rationally choosing jobs that did not have penalties for taking a leave of absence, some say that women are choosing more flexible jobs, but that trend is not true. Self-assessment of what we are good at. Self-assessment of career-relevant tasks lead to career choices. If wider society has cultural values on certain statuses, then these statuses are highlighted: double standards in assessing competence. If you are from a low status group, increase in scrutiny and suspicion from outsiders: stereotype threat: people like me are not good at this, which leads to stress and anxiety. Overall decrease in performance: stereotype bonus: people like me are good at this, which leads to boost in performance. People with stereotype bonus might overvalue their skill, but find it easy to forgive themselves if they are not good at that thing.
