I can still picture the moment when I first decided I was bad at math. I was sitting in my fifth-grade classroom when “New Math” arrived with great fanfare. Suddenly, the numbers on the page made no sense to me. I remember staring at the problems and feeling completely lost. Not long after that, I quietly reached a conclusion that would follow me for years: I must not have a head for math.

What I didn’t know then is that researchers now have a name for experiences like this. It’s called stereotype threat, a term introduced by social psychologist Claude Steele. Stereotype threat occurs when people worry that their actions might confirm a negative stereotype about a group they belong to, and that pressure can interfere with their performance.

This helps explain why females sometimes underperform on mathematical and intellectual tests. In simpler terms, girls may occasionally perform worse on math tests because they have absorbed the message—directly or indirectly—that boys are naturally better at math.

Research shows that when students learn about stereotype threat—and recognize that the tension they feel during tests may come from the pressure not to confirm a stereotype rather than from a lack of ability—their scores often improve. Apparently, expectation has a lot to do with performance.

My own experience fits the pattern. I was perfectly comfortable with math until “New Math” was introduced in fifth grade. Suddenly I had no idea what I was learning, and I suspect my teacher wasn’t entirely sure what she was teaching either. The result? I went from being a decent math student to someone who was convinced she was terrible at math.

I carried that idea around for years, even though I once scored 99% in a College Algebra class after stumbling upon a teacher who made everything seem easy. She was an unpretentious country girl whose explanations were crystal clear. I remember scratching my head and wondering how I could ever have thought the material was difficult.

Research suggests that girls often need only an explanation about stereotype threat, along with encouragement and visible role models, to begin seeing themselves differently. With that support, many experience a shift in confidence, perform better in math classes, and become more open to pursuing careers in math and science.

Thankfully, we are moving away from the outdated notion that women simply don’t have a head for numbers. Modern neuroscience tells a very different story. The brain has remarkable plasticity, meaning it can grow, adapt, and form new neural connections throughout life. With practice, encouragement, and good teaching, people of any age can develop abilities that once seemed out of reach.

Hurray for that.