Achievement 197of Italian children showed that perceptions of
males as better than females in math emerged
around fifth grade (see Figure 6.4; Muzzatti &
Agnoli, 2007). That study also showed that
stereotype threat affects performance at that
time. In their study, second through fifth
graders were either shown pictures of famous
mathematicians (nine were males and one
was female) to activate the stereotype “math =
male” or shown pictures of objects (nine were
flowers and one was fruit), followed by a math
test. There were no sex differences in perfor-
mance in either condition among second,
third, or fourth graders. But, by fifth grade,
the stereotype threat condition lowered girls’
performance. However, another study con-
ducted in France showed that third-grade girls
were vulnerable to stereotype threat (Neuville
& Croizet, 2007). When gender was made
salient, third-grade girls’ math performance
deteriorated but boys’ did not.performance—a pressure that arises due to
fears of confirming the stereotype.
Because some gender stereotypes are
so pervasive, they may not need to be made
explicit to affect performance. A study of ste-
reotype threat concerning visual-spatial skills
showed that college women performed worse
than men when the stereotype was explicit
(i.e., students told that men perform better
than women) and when the stereotype was
implicit (i.e., no information was provided;
Campbell & Collaer, 2009). Only when the
stereotype was nullified (i.e., students told
that women and men perform the same
on the task) was performance the same for
women and men. These results are shown in
Figure 6.8.
When do females become vulnerable
to stereotype threat in the areas of math and
science? It likely emerges as children become
aware of the stereotypes. Recall that the studyFIGURE 6.8 Men performed better than women on a visual
spatial task when the gender stereotype was made explicit or im-
plicit, but men and women performed the same on the task when
the stereotype was nullified.
Source: Adapted from Campbell and Collaer (2009).757080859095100Male Female Male Female Male Female
Explicit Implicit Nullified∗ n.s.∗M06_HELG0185_04_SE_C06.indd 197 6/21/11 8:10 AM