Impostor Syndrome, Stereotype Threat and Disabilities

Stereotype threat is as big of an issue (if not bigger) as impostor syndrome for people with disabilities and other underrepresented minorities

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Haven’t heard of “Stereotype Threat” before? Me neither until a few weeks ago. The impact of understanding how stereotype threat shapes my actions on a regular basis has fundamentally changed my life.

What is Stereotype threat?

Stereotype threat is where people feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about groups that they identify as belonging to. The term was originally coined by Claude Steele & Joshua Aronson in their 1995 article Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.