The Hidden Curriculum: An Examination of the Relationship Between the Implicit Black-Threat Association and Racial Disparities in School Discipline

Abstract

While racial disproportionality in school discipline is among the most well-documented educational inequities, we know little about the psychological mechanisms that underlie such disparities. The present research investigated whether teachers’ implicit stereotype of black people as threatening contributes to racial disparities in school discipline. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that teachers who more strongly associate blacks with threat feel more troubled by and respond more harshly to a black student misbehaving than a white student. We also attempted to replicate the findings of Okonofua and Eberhardt (2015), who found that teachers were more likely to view multiple infractions committed by a black student as a connected pattern and, as a result, escalated their negative responses to a black student but not to a white student. Although we did not find support for either hypothesis, the results indicate the need for further research on how implicit stereotypes might impact disciplinary practices.