Decreasing Women's STEM Attrition by Normalizing Ability Concerns

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SPRF) program is to enhance the participation of under-represented groups in science and engineering; promote interdisciplinary research; and encourage doctoral-level scientists (who are not yet in full-time positions) to take advantage of the two-year fellowships to prepare for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. This postdoctoral research fellowship is supported by the Broadening Participation track of the SPRF program. Converging evidence suggests gender differences in retention in the physical sciences, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM) are partly driven by women?s lower sense of academic belonging (feeling like a valued, accepted, and legitimate member in an academic domain). What remains unclear is how students' sense of academic belonging is formed and factors that safeguard women's sense of academic belonging in pSTEM, particularly in the face of negative stereotypes regarding intellectual abilities that suggest women do not fit in intellectually in these fields. The aims of this project are to (1) refine a multidimensional theoretical model of academic belonging with particular attention to the distinct subcomponents of social fit and intellectual fit by conducting a longitudinal field study that assesses these components of belonging over time and examines their unique relations to achievement and persistence, and (2) investigate whether an intervention that normalizes concerns about one's abilities might bolster women's sense of intellectual fit in pSTEM fields and in so doing increase retention. By helping to understand factors that lead to gender gaps in pSTEM retention and identifying an intervention that can ameliorate those gaps, this work will help transform pSTEM education practices and settings so that they foster and affirm the belonging of all students. Furthermore, this work contributes a process model of how uncertainty regarding intellectual fit shapes reactions to events that can be applied to other stereotyped groups in other performance contexts (not just women?s experiences in pSTEM), as well as to understanding determinates of achievement generally (not just pSTEM achievement). These aims are directly aligned with NSF?s goals of promoting a strong and diverse pSTEM workforce and will benefit students, educators, and policy makers alike. Two studies test the proposed aims of this project. Study 1 is a longitudinal field study of students enrolled in pSTEM majors that refines and tests an innovative multidimensional model of academic belonging. In this model, a student's sense of belonging in a field or domain is formed by perceptions of social fit as well as intellectual fit. This research sheds light on what it means to feel a sense of belonging in an academic domain and how students? perceptions of their belonging are formed and change over time. This multidimensional model of academic belonging allows for more precise predictions of academic persistence and adds a novel path to understanding gender asymmetries in pSTEM retention. Study 2 builds on Study 1 using a randomized field study design to test whether an intervention that normalizes ability fit concerns improves academic outcomes for women in pSTEM. In this study pSTEM majors are randomly assigned to a control group or to an intervention group where they learn that most students report worrying about their intellectual fit at some point in their academic career. All students are then followed longitudinally over the course of a semester to understand whether normalizing the experience of concerns regarding intellectual fit can boost women's retention. Both studies employ longitudinal growth curve modeling to assess how students' perceptions of their pSTEM ability fit change over time and how these changes relate to subsequent pSTEM achievement and retention. Together, these studies have significant theoretical and applied utility by providing new insights into how perceptions of academic belonging are formed and the structural factors that can be employed to create more equitable pSTEM environments for all students.