Claude M. Steele is an American social psychologist best known for his work on stereotype threat and its application to minority students’ academic performance. He has also studied issues of the self, such as self-image, self-affirmation, and the role of self-regulation in addictive behaviors. Steele also spent several years in academic administration, serving as provost of Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, and dean of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.
Professional positions
- 2017–present: Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences and professor of psychology (now emeritus), Stanford University
- 2016–2017: Professor of psychology, University of California, Berkeley
- 2014–2016: Executive vice chancellor and provost, University of California, Berkeley
- 2011–2014: I. James Quillen Dean and professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University
- 2009–2011: Professor of psychology and provost of the university, Columbia University
- 1991–2009: Professor of psychology (1991–2009) and Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences (1997–2009), Stanford University
- 1987–1991: Professor of psychology, University of Michigan
- 1973–1987: Assistant (1973–1985) and full (1985–1987) professor of psychology, University of Washington
- 1971–1973: Assistant professor of psychology, University of Utah
Notable publications
- Steele, Claude M. 2026. Churn: The Tension that Divides Us and How to Overcome It. Liveright.
- Steele, Claude M. 2010. Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. Issues of Our Time. W. W. Norton.
- Steele, Claude M. 1998. “A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance.” American Psychologist 52 (6): 613–629.
- Steele, Claude M., and Joshua Aronson. 1995. “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African Americans.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69 (5): 797–811.
Degrees
- PhD, social psychology and statistical psychology, Ohio State University
- MA, social psychology, Ohio State University
- BA, psychology, Hiram College
