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  <h1>Stereotype Threat</h1>
  <h2>How To Identify?</h2>
  <h4>August 17, 2015</h4>

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    I did a lot of thinking on stereotype threat last January when I attended Write, Speak, Code, a day-long seminar that trains women to be thought leaders in tech.  The seminar was partly inspired by The Op-Ed Project, which trains women to write op-eds and which I had also attended in Atlanta.  I sure do love attending seminars!
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    We did various exercises during the seminar, including one time when we sat in a group and talked about fears we have about our coding abilities.  For example, I mentioned my fear that I take too long on assignments or that I am a slow coder.  It was a relief to see other people raise their hands and to understand that I am not the only one who feels this way.  The main organizer explained that research has been done on African-American students and stereotype threat which shows that when members of a group under stereotype threat discuss their fears about confirming a stereotype, it can help them to perform better.  (I want to note that I attended this seminar months ago and my memory is a little fuzzy.  Don't quote me directly - the organizer probably expressed this thought much more eloquently!)
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    I like to think of myself as a highly self-aware person, and working for social change has shown me how our identities affect the way we act with each other socially and in work environments.  Nevertheless, I don't think I am very good at telling when I am affected by stereotype threat.  I do think there were a few times in my winter part-time programming class when I feared asking a question because I didn't want my male classmates to think that my confusion reflected on all female programmers' aptitudes.  However, it's harder for me to tell how stereotype threat affects me in Phase 0 because so much of our work is solitary.  I also have a harmful tendency to be hard on myself regardless of what field I am working in or how women are expected to perform in that area.  It's hard for me to distinguish between stereotype threat and generalized anxiety about my abilities.  I hope the difference becomes clearer to me as Dev Bootcamp proceeds.
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Add cultural blog about stereotype threat
Add cultural blog about stereotype threat
