Improving Judgements of Performance Among Black Engineering Students Highly Susceptible to Stereotype Threat: An Intervention

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào

Stereotype threat (ST) contributes to attrition in STEM by disrupting metacognitive monitoring, which is linked to learning and performance. While metacognitive interventions exist, none had tested their impact on performance outcomes for ST-susceptible students who may experience temporary metacognitive processing deficits under threat. A four-week intervention with 25 Black engineering students improved calibration and reduced the negative relationship between calibration bias and performance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Background and Rationale

Intervention and Findings

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Ed | ucation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2024: VOLUME 12 ISSUE 4 Improving Judgements of Performance Among Black Engineering Students Highly Susceptible to Stereotype Threat: An Intervention KATHERINE PICHO-KIROGA Department of Human Development & Psychoeducational Studies Howard University Washington, D.C. MARCELA VALENCIA SERRANO Department of Psychology Pontiﬁcia Universidad Javeriana Cali Cali, Colombia NOEL BOURNE Department of Mathematics Tennessee State University Nasheville, TN JERRIEL HALL Department of Human Development & Psychoeducational Studies Howard University Washington, D.C. ABSTRACT Stereotype threat (ST) is implicated as a contributory factor to attrition in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) ﬁelds. One of the mechanisms by which ST degrades performance is by impairing metacognitive monitoring (Schmader et al. 2008), which is positively related to learning and performance (Hadwin et al., 2017; Winne & Hadwin, 1998, 2008) . Several interventions to improve metacognition exist, but to our knowledge, none have evaluated their effectiveness in improving performance outcomes among ST susceptible students who are more likely to suffer situational deﬁcits in metacognitive processing under threat. The present investigation ﬁlls this gap in the literature through a brief intervention to improve performance judgments. 25 Black Engineering students participated in a four-week intervention to improve judgments of learning. Results showed that the intervention improved student calibration among Black engineering students susceptible to race-related ST and attenuated the negative relationship between calibration bias and performance. Speciﬁcally, study participants underestimated 14 2024: VOLUME 12 ISSUE 4 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Improving Judgements of Performance Among Black Engineering Students Highly Susceptible to Stereotype Threat: An Intervention. their performance, which was negatively and signiﬁcantly associated with performance at the onset of the study. However, calibration bias diminished signiﬁcantly over the intervention and subsequently had no impact on performance at four and six weeks (two weeks post-intervention) . Key words: stereotype threat, engineering, intervention, metacognitive monitoring, self-regulated learning INTRODUCTION The United States’ global position in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has experienced a steady but marked decline in the last decade. The nation currently ranks 38 out of 71 countries in math and science (Pew Research 2017) and 30 out of 35 among members of the Office of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) . The current challenges faced in producing and retaining STEM talent are partly because the ﬁeld has not fully accessed the human talent pool: Women and people of color (POC) have been and still are under-represented in ﬁelds like in engineering and computer science; Black and Hispanic people constitute only 5% and 6% of the Science and Engineering workforce relative to their participation in the U. S. workforce (i.e., 15% and 16%), respectively (NSF 2017) . The under-representation of people of color in science and engineering stem from a span of complex structural, cultural and psycho-social factors, all inter linked. These disparities are perpetuated in part by (a) cultural beliefs that raw talent (brilliance) is critical to success in STEM, and stereotypes that associate this brilliance with men (e.g., Bian, Leslie, & Cimpian 2017; Elmore & Luna-Lucero 2017; Kirkcaldy, Noack, Furnham, & Siefen, 2007; Lecklider 2013), as well as (b) stereotypes that disparage the intellectual abilities of women and non-Asian minorities in these domains. Regarding the latter, individuals belonging to marginalized groups can sometimes experience concern and anxiety over conﬁrming as self-characteristic, ne

FAQs

What problem does the study address?

The study targets how stereotype threat undermines STEM performance by interfering with metacognitive processes and how that affects judgments of learning and performance.

How was the intervention implemented and for how long?

Twenty-five Black engineering students participated in a four-week intervention aimed at improving judgments of learning.

What were the key outcomes of the intervention?

The intervention improved student calibration among students susceptible to race-related ST and attenuated the negative relationship between calibration bias and performance over time.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào