My ideas from my initial dissertation planning section below have stayed relatively the same. However, my ideas are now more refined in terms of having specific research questions and an overall methodological design in mind.

Theoretical framework: 

Stereotype threat & Self-Regulated Learning:

Stereotype threat is defined as the anxiety that an individual feels about confirming a certain stereotype about his/her social group (Aronson, 2002). Prior research shows that stereotype threat causes a decrease in academic achievement among historically stigmatized groups such as African Americans and Hispanics (Aronson & Steele, 2005). Researchers suggest that the mediators of this relationship has yet to be fully understood and are beginning to introduce social-cognitive variables such goal orientation (Ryan & Ryan, 2005) to understand this causal relationship. However, research has yet to examine stereotype threat holistically within the framework of social-cognitive theory. Social-cognitive theory asserts that individuals learn through interactions between their social environment, personal cognitive variables, and  behavioral outcomes (Bandura, 1989). Therefore, I hypothesize that since stereotypes are a result of society, and if effective learning comes from information derived from one's environmental context, then the ability to effectively regulate cognitive and behavioral learning within an environmental/societal context can, indeed, lessen the impact of stereotypes on student academic performance.    

The main research question of my dissertation will be: Can self-regulation and motivation mitigate stereotype threat effects on achievement?

In order to answer this question, I plan on using a quasi-experimental method.

Experiment: Establishing the causal role of self-regulation in eliminating stereotype threat effects on achievement.

Sample population: Undergraduate students or graduate students

Task: TBD (Math task)

Outcome measure: Performance on the math task

(2x2 experimental design)

Group I: no self-regulated training and activation of stereotype threat

Group II: no self-regulated training and no activation of stereotype threat

Group III:  self-regulated training and activation of stereotype threat

Group IV: self-regulated training and no activation of stereotype threat

I have always been instructed that my dissertation topic will be strongly influenced by one research article. I am very lucky to have found that one article that has instilled interest, passion, and excitement in me at this point of my studies. That one article that I will use to guide my dissertation is a piece by Aronson and his colleagues:

Aronson, J., Lustina, M. J., Good, C., Keough, K., Steele, C. M., & Brown, J. (1999). When White men can't do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 29-46.