A recent Stanford University study reveals that women and students of color are losing the academic achievement struggle. The study, conducted by Stanford’s Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice, examined the graduation rates of students at four California high school districts, comparing the graduating class of 2005 to those of 2006 and 2007.
Following the implementation of an exit exam in 2006, the graduation rate declined as much as 19 percent for Black and female students, compared to 1 percent for white students and 12 percent for male students.
The study claims that these disparities are due to “stereotype threat,” in which a person who believes oneself inferior or unable to perform allows that belief to affect performance in a standardized environment.
While the study’s results note the racist character of exit exams, its conclusions focus on a result that is, at best, a consequence of institutionalized racism and sexism. This shifts the debate away from institutionalized racism and sexism, the real reasons women and students of color struggle, to the psyche of the victims of racism and sexism.
