Question

Brooke is a PhD candidate in the field of nanophysics. She is aware that only 4 percent of physics professionals are women. Brooke has heard peers and even instructors say that this is because women struggle to comprehend complex mathematics. When Brooke scores below her male counterparts on an exam, she may be experiencing:________

Answer 1

Stereotype threat

Step-by-step explanation:

Stereotype threat is a phenomenon which tends to make an individual act in ways in order to conform to a belief that may not be really true about some certain category of people.

In the case of Brooke as stated in the question above, as a result of being exposed to the belief and notion of people who considered women to be generally poor at complex mathematics, she eventually conforms to this over-generalized negative belief about women. This affected her self-confidence and performance as she tends to fulfill the negative expectations people have against women regarding complex mathematics.