The effect of soliciting demographic data on the performance of students on online tests

Stereotype threat was studied in the context of online testing in Computer Science. For the study, the student´s identity was made salient by asking the student to identify sex and race, with no additional allusions to positive or negative stereotypes associated with any of their subgroups. It was found that the negative effect of entering demographic data before answering a test was more readily apparent on harder topics. The negative effect of stereotype threat on female and non-Caucasian students was significant among those who had not already mastered the material. On the harder topic in the study, after excluding those who had mastered the material, stereotype threat was found to negatively affect male and Caucasian students also, possibly because of “choking effect”. Given these results, it is recommended that demographic information should be solicited after rather than before online tests.