Minority students often feel as though they do not fit in with their white peers, which can often lead to social anxiety that cripples their overall academic performance. As a result, these students can have lower grade point averages (GPAs).

Psychologists recently conducted a study that ultimately led to a higher GPA and a smaller racial achievement gap by nearly half. The researchers, from Stanford University, created a 60-minute exercise that demonstrated how all students, no matter what ethnicity, had problems with school.

"Being a member of a minority group can make those events have a larger meaning," said Greg Walton, an assistant professor of psychology. "When your group is in the minority, being rejected by a classmate or having a teacher say something negative to you could seem like proof that you don’t belong, and maybe evidence that your group doesn’t belong either."

The researchers noted that the black students who took part in the exercise went on to be happier and healthier than those who did not.