Culture, Context and Stereotype Threat: A Comparative Analysis of Young Ugandan Women in Coed and Single-Sex Schools

Abstract

Stereotype threat (ST) has been linked to under performance and academic disidentification among girls in mathematics and science as well as African Americans in academics. However, it is still unclear whether ST and its negative effects extend to non-Western cultures. The authors explored the effects of ST on Ugandan females in coed and single-sex (all-girls) schools. Results indicated that although ST did not affect the performance of girls in the single-sex school, it negatively impacted the performance of females in the coed school. Further, these effects appear to have been moderated by school context, with females in single-sex schools reporting higher levels of mathematics identification and mathematics self-efficacy than those in coed schools.