A descriptive study of race and gender differences in how instructional style and perceived professor care influence decisions to major in STEM

Abstract

Background: Women and students of color are widely underrepresented in the majority of STEM fields. In order to investigate this underrepresentation, we interviewed over 200 male and female college seniors, primarily women and people of color, who either majored in STEM or started but dropped a STEM major. Here, we focus on one section of the longer interview that focused on students' perceptions of professor care as well as perceived and preferred instruction style. Additionally, we look at correlations between professor care, course interactivity, and sense of belonging. In our analysis, we examine student responses through the lens of gender, race, and their intersections. Results: We found that white women perceived their STEM professors cared about them and their learning the most while women of color reported the least perceived care. Notably, men, regardless of race, reported similar perceptions of professor care. We found that students commonly report their STEM courses were lecture-based but say they would prefer more active approaches. In particular, we found that women who left STEM majors reported more lecture-based instruction while stating the highest preference for active learning environments. We found that perceiving their professors cared was related to a greater sense of belonging in STEM. Additionally, we found that students who reported active classrooms also reported more professor care in their STEM field. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that active teaching environments may positively impact students' sense of belonging and desire to continue in STEM and that this impact may be higher for underrepresented students.

Exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa

“…Global literature is rich in empirical evidence about the factors influencing career decision-making, some of which are family influence, passion, capacity, self-efficacy, apparent difficulty, values, sense of belonging, gender and race (Bieri Buschor, Berweger, Keck Frei, & Kappler, 2014;Lent et al, 2005;Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2018;Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2019). The bulk of attention for the past two decades has been on investigating career decision-making in STEM in western countries.…”

Some Believe, Not All Achieve: The Role of Active Learning Practices in Anxiety and Academic Self-Efficacy in First-Generation College Students

“…Use of multiple active learning practices in firstyear science courses, including frequent assessment (e.g., clicker questions or multiple smaller exams) and interactive instruction (e.g., group learning experiences, peer-led team learning) improved course grades and reduced failure rates, with underrepresented minority students exhibiting greater gains in grades than continuing-generation students (6)(7)(8). The reasons that active learning practices may disproportionately benefit certain demographics remain under investigation; however, findings suggest that they might afford greater opportunities for classroom participation from underrepresented students (9, 10); increase students' sense of belonging (11); mitigate an unfriendly or overly competitive atmosphere prevalent in large lecture classes (12); provide more opportunities for students to practice metacognitive skills instead of rote memorization (13); and enhance a sense of confidence in abilities to meet academic challenges, otherwise referred to as academic self-efficacy (8).…”

Sex and pedagogy influences in physics learning-related reorganization of brain activation

“…Activeengagement curricula (i.e., active-learning instruction that directly involves all students in the learning process) improve conceptual test scores and odds of success relative to lecture-based instruction for all students. They also support female students' physics self-concepts, science identities, and attitudes and beliefs about physics [17][18][19][20][21][22] , suggesting active-learning may be both broadly effective as well as explicitly beneficial for female students' success. Physics Modeling Instruction (MI) is one such active-learning pedagogy wherein students engage with instructors and peers in studio classrooms to develop, test, and verify physics models through experimentation and collaborative inquiry-based group activities 23 .…”