Humans have many different ways that they think about themselves - called identities - such as a parent, a friend, a member of a specific racial/ethnic group, a particular gender, an employee, or a boss, to name just a few. And people act based on which identity they feel in that situation. Stereotype threat occurs when humans internalize negative social stereotypes about one of their multiple identities.
Examples:
An illiterate woman may not believe she is strong enough to report gender-based violence because “people like her” don’t speak up.
A student may drop out of college when they are struggling because they are the first in their family to go to college and “people like them” don’t graduate from college.
What it is not:
The person having expectations of a poor outcome if they take action. That could be a structural issue to consider.
