Really fascinating stuff. I really enjoyed Steele's methodical explanation of his research into stereotype threat and how all of us, in different ways, operate with a subconscious fear of how our performance/actions will be perceived as reflecting or confirming stereotypes against us. Steele walks us (in surprisingly painstaking detail) through experiments that show how stereotype threat works against us in a number of ways. His explorations range from, for example, under-performance by highly motivated African American students in college classes and women in science and math fields to white stress regarding whether or not an individual will be perceived as racist. It's a pretty interesting read, and Steele takes pains to point out how the research is showing hope for change as well.

I was excited that so many of my peers at work read this; I do wish we'd done a little more with it as a group, but at least we have some common ground now to work from and build from. Pretty illuminating.