Unlocking the Benefits of Gender Diversity: How an Ecological-Belonging Intervention Enhances Performance in Science Classrooms (original) (raw)
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Psychological Science
In diverse classrooms, stereotypes are often “in the air,” which can interfere with learning and performance among stigmatized students. Two studies designed to foster equity in college science classrooms ( Ns = 1,215 and 607) tested an intervention to establish social norms that make stereotypes irrelevant in the classroom. At the beginning of the term, classrooms assigned to an ecological-belonging intervention engaged in discussion with peers around the message that social and academic adversity is normative and that students generally overcome such adversity. Compared with business-as-usual controls, intervention students had higher attendance, course grades, and 1-year college persistence. The intervention was especially impactful among historically underperforming students, as it improved course grades for ethnic minorities in introductory biology and for women in introductory physics. Regardless of demographics, attendance in the intervention classroom predicted higher cumula...
International Journal of STEM Education, 2019
Background. Drawing on social identity theory and positive psychology, this study investigated women’s responses to the social environment of physics classrooms. It also investigated STEM identity and gender disparities on academic achievement and flourishing in an undergraduate introductory physics course for STEM majors. 160 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory physics course were administered a baseline survey with self-report measures on course belonging, physics identification, flourishing, and demographics at the beginning of the course and a post-survey at the end of the academic term. Students also completed force concept inventories and physics course grades were obtained from the registrar. Results. Women reported less course belonging and less physics identification than men. Physics identification and grades evidenced a longitudinal bidirectional relationship for all students (regardless of gender) such that when controlling for baseline physics knowledge: (a) students with higher physics identification were more likely to earn higher grades; and (b) students with higher grades evidenced more physics identification at the end of the term. Men scored higher on the force concept inventory than women, although no gender disparities emerged for course grades. For women, higher physics (versus lower) identification was associated with more positive changes in flourishing over the course of the term. High-identifying men showed the opposite pattern: negative change in flourishing was more strongly associated with high identifiers than low identifiers. Conclusions. Overall, this study underlines gender disparities in physics both in terms of belonging and physics knowledge. It suggests that strong STEM identity may be associated with academic performance and flourishing in undergraduate physics courses at the end of the term, particularly for women. A number of avenues for future research are discussed.
In an “ecological-belonging” intervention to reduce inequities in STEM, context matters
2021
Doubts about belonging in the classroom are often shouldered disproportionately by students from historically marginalized groups, which can lead to underperformance. Ecological-belonging interventions use a classroom-based activity to instill norms that adversity is normal, temporary and surmountable. Building on prior studies, we sought to identify the conditions under which such interventions are effective. In a chemistry course (Study 1), students from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds underperformed relative to their peers in the absence of the intervention. This performance gap was eliminated by the intervention. In an introductory biology course (Study 2), there were no large performance gaps in the absence of the intervention, and the intervention had no effect. Study 2 also explored the role of the instructor that delivers the intervention. The intervention boosted scores in classrooms of instructors with a fixed (versus growth-oriented) intelligence mindset. Our results ...
2018 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, 2019
In interviews about efforts to create inclusive departmental and instructional practices, physics faculty express a number of different goals for inclusion. These goals include: students feeling welcome or successful, students having access to physics culture and practices, and faculty disrupting existing systems of oppression that permeate physics classroom spaces. Throughout their interviews, faculty name a number of practices that serve each goal. Some of these goals and associated practices focus on the interpersonal and individual, serving to ensure fairness and hospitality, whereas other goals and practices overtly acknowledge the systemic marginalization of women and people of color in physics, framing physics education as an opportunity to disrupt such systems.
2007
This study examined the relationship between campus racial climate perceptions and other college environments to sense of belonging among undergraduate women of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. The conceptual framework combined two college impact models, model of undergraduate socialization and Astin's (1991) input-environment-outcome model, with a transformative perspective (Mertens, 2005) to examine sense of belonging among women of color in STEM majors. Data came from the 2004 National Study of Living-Learning Programs, and included 1,722 women in undergraduate STEM majors from 29 institutions in the U.S. identifying as Black/African American, Asian Pacific American, Latina, American Indian, Multiracial/Multiethnic, and White/Caucasian. Results from two-way ANOVAs revealed that women of color reported a less strong sense of belonging than White/Caucasian women and had more interactions with diverse peers than White/Caucasian women. In addition, Black/African American women perceived a less positive campus racial climate than women from other racial/ethnic groups. Significant predictors in a hierarchical multiple regression analysis for sense of belonging (29% variance explained) included race/ethnicity, perceptions of academically and socially supportive climates in the residence hall, perceptions of a positive campus racial climate, academic self-confidence, academic class year, socializing with friends from home, and participation in a STEM-related living-learning program. Partial correlation analyses indicated that perceptions of a positive campus racial climate were significantly correlated to sense of belonging for Black/African American, Multiracial/Multiethnic, and Asian Pacific American women. Findings supported the application of college impact theories with a transformative perspective to the experiences of women of color in STEM. The regression model supported the salience of campus racial climate perceptions to sense of belonging for women in STEM; however the relationship between STEM living-learning programs and sense of belonging requires further study. Results identified the salience of the campus racial climate and sense of belonging for women of color in STEM, the significance of the residence hall climate to sense of belonging, and the need for racial/ethnic diversity among STEM living-learning program participants. Results are important given the growing enrollments of women of color in higher education and the need to expand access to STEM careers.
Education Sciences
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields have remained stagnant in increasing diversity. An important factor in increasing diversity is building and supporting diverse cohorts of future STEM professionals in our classrooms. A strong sense of belonging in STEM has been demonstrated to increase persistence of women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students in STEM or the college atmosphere. Therefore, it is important that STEM faculty develop inclusive teaching strategies to increase and support this sense of belonging in STEM for all students. This work evaluates a faculty-developed assignment implemented in Fall 2020 at a liberal arts college on a student’s sense of belonging in STEM. The results demonstrated that this semester-long project increased students’ sense of belonging in STEM. Current literature about any faculty-developed assignments focused on supporting a student’s sense of belonging and awareness of diversity in STEM im...
Cultural Stereotypes and Sense of Belonging Contribute to Gender Gaps in STEM
International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 2020
There is a need to help more students succeed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, with particular interest in reducing current gender gaps in motivation and participation. We propose a new theoretical model, the STEreotypes, Motivation, and Outcomes (STEMO) developmental model, to account for and integrate recent data emerging in social and developmental psychology. Based on this model, we synthesize research suggesting that social factors, such as stereotypes and self-representations about "belonging," are powerful contributors to observed gender differences in STEM interest and academic outcomes. The review has four parts. First, we examine how cultural stereotypes specific to STEM contribute to gender gaps by negatively impacting interest and academic outcomes. Second, we review the central role of the self-representations affected by those stereotypes, including the particular importance of a sense of belonging. Third, we discuss various interventions that buffer against stereotypes and enhance a sense of belonging to reduce gender gaps in STEM interest and academic outcomes. Finally, we suggest theory-driven directions for future research. By organizing the research in this way, our review and theoretical analysis clarify key factors contributing to current gender gaps in STEM and mechanisms by which psychological interventions can help address STEM gender gaps.
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Students' social belonging in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses has repeatedly been shown to be an important influence on students' outcomes in these courses. Previous studies have further identified students' sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty as related but unique components of their broader social belonging that can independently affect outcomes. High belonging uncertainty (doubts about the quality of one's social connections or academic ability in a course) may particularly disadvantage historically marginalized groups in physics, such as women or students of color who face negative stereotypes based on their identity. Additionally, high-stakes exams, such as traditional final exams in introductory physics classes, can disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized groups. In this study, we investigated the effect of social belonging on students' performance across two Introductory Physics 1 sections with two variations of final assessment: one section that took a traditional final exam and one section that completed a nontraditional final course project. Both assessment types were high stakes and constituted a similar, substantial proportion of students' final course grade. We found that both students' sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty impacted their final assessment score, regardless if they took the traditional final exam or completed the nontraditional final project. The findings of this study illustrate how students' social belonging can impact performance even on nontraditional assessments if such assessment is of similar high stakes to a traditional exam.
Group Work in the Science Classroom: How Gender Composition May Affect Individual Performance
Current research on how gender composition within groups influences individual outcomes is both sparse and conflicting. We examined how gender composition within groups affects learning outcomes. Students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes from three US Midwestern public school districts with diverse demographic compositions (N=637, 314 boys and 323 girls) participated in this study as a part of their regular science class during a 12-week design-based physics curriculum, CoMPASS. We conducted two 5 x 2 analyses of covariance to evaluate the effect of group gender ratio and gender on students' physics learning and science practice outcomes. Results indicate that group gender ratio does influence students' science learning and practices as measured by posttest differences. Students in mixed-gender groups performed significantly better than students in same-gender groups. Having at least one group member of the opposite gender increased individual students' post...
2024
This research focuses on the experiences of seven undergraduate women who were majoring in physics in a medium-size physics department at a small liberal arts college. In the semistructured, empathetic interviews we conducted, the women discussed how they decided to major in physics, their interactions with their peers and instructors, and who supported them during their physics trajectory. We used Standpoint Theory and focused on the experiences of undergraduate women to get a holistic perspective of how they became interested in physics, how they have been supported in their physics journey, as well as identify any challenges that they faced in their undergraduate physics program due to their identity. Using the Domains of Power framework, we analyzed how those in the position of power, e.g., instructors, can play important roles in establishing and maintaining safe, equitable, and inclusive environments for students, which is especially important for historically marginalized students such as women and ethnic and racial minority students in physics.