Objectives We examined undergraduate STEM students’ experiences during Spring 2020 when universities switched to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we sought to understand actions by universities and instructors that students found effective or ineffective, as well as instructor behaviors that conveyed a sense of caring or not caring about their students’ success. Methods In July 2020 we conducted 16 focus groups with STEM undergraduate students enrolled in US colleges and universities (N = 59). Focus groups were stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Content analyses were performed using a data-driven inductive approach. Results Participants (N = 59; 51% female) were racially/ethnically diverse (76% race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white) and from 32 colleges and universities. The most common effective instructor strategies mentioned included hybrid instruction (35%) and use of multiple tools for learning and student engagement (27%). The most common ineffective strategies mentioned were increasing the course workload or difficulty level (18%) and use of pre-recorded lectures (15%). The most common behaviors cited as making students feel the instructor cared about their success were exhibiting leniency and/or flexibility regarding course policies or assessments (29%) and being responsive and accessible to students (25%). The most common behaviors cited as conveying the instructors did not care included poor communication skills (28%) and increasing the difficulty of the course (15%). University actions students found helpful included flexible policies (41%) and moving key services online (e.g., tutoring, counseling; 24%). Students felt universities should have created policies for faculty and departments to increase consistency (26%) and ensured communication strategies were honest, prompt, and transparent (23%). Conclusions To be prepared for future emergencies, universities should devise evidence-based policies for remote operations and all instructors should be trained in best practices for remote instruction. Research is needed to identify and ameliorate negative impacts of the pandemic on STEM education.

Objective: We examined undergraduate students' concerns about returning to campus and about online learning from home.Participants: Undergraduates majoring in STEM at US universities/colleges. Methods: Participants completed an online survey in July 2020. We content-analyzed responses to open-ended questions about concerns about Fall 2020.Results: Students (N=64) were 52% women, 47% low SES, and 73% races/ethnicities other than non-Hispanic white. Concerns about returning to campus included student noncompliance with university COVID-19 prevention guidelines (28%), infection risk (26%), poor instructional quality (26%), inadequate university plans for preventing/handling outbreaks (25%), negative impacts on social interactions (11%), and transportation/commuting (11%). Concerns about online learning from home included difficulty focusing on schoolwork (58%), lack of handson/experiential learning (24%), negative impacts on social interactions (19%), family/home environment (15%), concerns that online learning wastes time/money (10%), and inadequate technology/Internet access (5%).Conclusions: Universities should address student concerns and provide resources to overcome barriers to effective learning.

In three studies ( N = 886), we hypothesized and found that women’s and men’s endorsement of the culturally idealized form of masculinity, hegemonic masculinity (HM), predicted more positive evaluations of a political figure accused of sexual violence (Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh) and more negative evaluations of the women who made accusations of sexual assault. HM predicted these evaluations over and above political party, gender, race, education, and sexism (Study 1), rape myth endorsement (Study 2), and the likelihood to sexually harass (Study 3). Implications for the maintenance of the status quo and the prevalence of sexual violence against women in the United States are discussed.

Past research indicates that childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) undermines the quality of adult romantic relationships by fostering negative characteristics in survivors. Two longitudinal studies investigated the hypothesis that decreased compassionate goals toward partners over time explain the association between CEM and declining relationship quality. In Study 1, CEM predicted decreased compassionate goals over time, which in turn predicted decreased relationship quality in individuals in romantic relationships. Study 2 replicated this effect in romantically involved couples and showed that partners’ high compassionate goals attenuated the decline in compassionate goals associated with reported CEM. These results point to the importance of examining how CEM may affect positive relationship processes and the protective roles of partners’ compassionate goals.

Undergraduates majoring in STEM at US universities/colleges completed an online survey in July 2020 and answered open-ended questions about their concerns about returning to campus and about learning online from home in Fall 2020. Students’ concerns about returning to campus included student noncompliance with university COVID-19 prevention guidelines, infection risk, poor instructional quality, inadequate university plans for preventing/handling outbreaks, negative impacts on social interactions, and transportation/commuting. Concerns about online learning from home included difficulty focusing on schoolwork, lack of hands-on/experiential learning, negative impacts on social interactions, family/home environment, concerns that online learning wastes time/money, and inadequate technology/Internet access. Universities should address student concerns and provide resources to overcome barriers to effective learning.