Research suggests that when a student is in a performance situation with the potential to confirm negative stereotypes about the student’s identity, possible outcomes include:

• Increased stress
• Reduction in working memory, lessening capacity to focus on the task (Schmader & Johns, 2003)
• Impaired performance and/or reduced sense of belonging in the field (Good, Rattan, & Dweck, 2012; Steele & Aronson, 1995)

However, stereotype threat is also complex, with studies pointing to a differential impact on students (Nguyen & Ryan, 2008; Owens & Lynch, 2012).

• Examine how you give feedback to students: To mitigate stereotype threat, critical feedback on assignments should emphasize: (1) reflection of a teacher’s high standards, (2) students’ potential to reach them, and (3) substantive feedback to improve. For example, a framing comment like the following can be adapted: “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.” (Steele, 2011; Yaeger et al., 2014).
• Frame the purpose of assessments effectively: Emphasize that tests and assignments are a diagnostic of students’ current skill levels, which can be improved with practice, instead of a measure of permanent ability (Aronson, 2002).
• Use reflective writing to normalize struggles. In one study, college students wrote letters to middle-school “pen pals” about how they overcame struggles to find success and later made taped speeches. One year later, participants in the intervention had more malleable beliefs about intelligence, enjoyment of academics, and higher GPAs, compared to control. (There were positive gains for all students but statistically significant gains only for African-American students.) (Aronson, Fried & Good, 2001)
• Recognize the diversity of contributors to/members of the field. One study indicated that showing female STEM students images of female engineers and mathematicians significantly improved their attitudes, identification, self-efficacy, and career interest in STEM (Dasgupta, 2011), while another suggests that advanced peer mentors can positively influence women's self-concept in math (Stout, Dasgupta, Hunsinger, & McManus, 2011). (See also Walton & Cohen, 2011.)
• Move course assessments away from timed, high-stakes tests. A study of over a half million students in U.S. STEM courses found that gender under-performance — i.e., women performing more poorly than would be predicted from their prior GPAs — was related to courses that "typically employ timed, high-stakes, and often multiple choice exams" (Matz et al., 2011). Courses with design- or writing-based assignments, as well as low-stakes quizzes, tended to have more equitable outcomes.

• Killpack & Melón (2016). Toward Inclusive STEM Classrooms: What Personal Role Do Faculty Play?: This article offers a definition of stereotype threat and three strategies that instructors can use to mitigate it. Although written in a STEM education journal, the strategies are broadly applicable to other disciplines (e.g., if the collection of demographic information is needed during a survey or assessment, place those questions at the end).