Implicit attitudes and stereotypes concerning male and female ethnic minority students

Stereotypes and attitudes influence behavior and hence contribute to the integration of students from different backgrounds. Stereotypes reflect beliefs about the members of social groups (Fiske & Taylor, 1991) and are associated with expectations, which in turn effect perception and judgments (Ferguson, 2003). Person perceptions- and judgments are however also affected by evaluations of objects (Sanbonmatsu & Fazio, 1990). Based on people´s stereotypical beliefs and associated thoughts and feelings, specific behavioral intentions develop and hence both may be pivotal for the level of acceptance or rejection of others. Research shows that stigmatization based on ethnicity can provide a barrier in terms of both social integration (MENJE, 2015) and educational equity (Gabel, et al., 2009). The current study aimed to assess young peoples´ implicit attitudes and stereotypes concerning male and female students from different ethnic backgrounds (German vs. Turkish). Implicit attitudes were measured using an implicit association task (IAT; Greenwald, et al., 2003). First names were used as a proxy for the ethnic background of the student. Participants (N=98) were randomly divided in two groups, completing either an IAT-boys version or an IAT-girls version. Stereotypes, in terms of students´ academic engagement were assessed using a questionnaire (Hachfeld, et al., 2012). Mean IAT-D scores for boys and girls did not differ, t(89)=1.05, p=.30. The IAT-D score for the whole sample (M=0.33, SD=1.28) was significantly different from zero, t(90)=2.46, p=.02, d=0.26, reflecting more negative implicit attitudes toward students with Turkish roots. Participants did not express differential stereotypical beliefs regarding the students´ academic engagement based on students´ ethnic background (i.e., subscale scores were significantly lower than the mean of the scale, t(88)=6.00, p<.001, d=0.64). No correlation was found between implicit attitudes and stereotypical beliefs (r=.12, n.s.). People´s implicit attitudes in favor of students from ethnic majorities may result in differential social interactions with students from different backgrounds (less acceptance of students with ethnic minority backgrounds). The dissociation between implicit attitudes and explicit stereotypical beliefs may reflect the social sensitivity of the relationship between students´ background and educational opportunities.