Driven by Diversity

Ferrini-Mundy, Joan

doi:10.1126/science.1235521

Cited by 71 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…FG students constitute roughly 20% of students in American universities and represent a potentially large STEM talent pool, yet they drop out of college at a higher rate (28–35%) than CG students (17%; Chen, 2005; Radford, Berkner, Wheeless, & Shepherd, 2010). If we wish to increase the number of students in science and maximize the chances of discovering talent, it is critically important to promote motivation and performance for underrepresented ethnic minority (URM) and FG students in introductory science courses, which act as a gateway to STEM careers (Ferrini-Mundy, 2013). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing achievement gaps with a utility-value intervention: Disentangling race and social class.

Harackiewicz

Canning

Tibbetts

et al. 2016

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

416

570

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many college students abandon their goal of completing a degree in STEM when confronted with challenging introductory-level science courses. In the U.S., this trend is more pronounced for underrepresented minority (URM) and first-generation (FG) students, and contributes to persisting racial and social-class achievement gaps in higher education. Previous intervention studies have focused exclusively on race or social class, but have not examined how the two may be confounded and interact. This research therefore investigates the independent and interactive effects of race and social class as moderators of an intervention designed to promote performance, measured by grade in the course. In a double-blind randomized experiment conducted over four semesters of an introductory biology course (N = 1040), we tested the effectiveness of a utility-value intervention in which students wrote about the personal relevance of course material. The utility-value intervention was successful in reducing the achievement gap for FG-URM students by 61%: the performance gap for FG-URM students, relative to CG-Majority students, was large in the control condition, .84 grade points (d = .98), and the treatment effect for FG-URM students was .51 grade points (d = 0.55). The UV intervention helped students from all groups find utility value in the course content, and mediation analyses showed that the process of writing about utility value was particularly powerful for FG-URM students. Results highlight the importance of examining the independent and interactive effects of race and social class when evaluating interventions to close achievement gaps and the mechanisms through which they may operate.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing achievement gaps with a utility-value intervention: Disentangling race and social class.

Harackiewicz

Canning

Tibbetts

et al. 2016

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

416

570

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Few would challenge the necessity for increased diversity as a means of strengthening STEM research and enlarging the future workforce or the ability of BP to contribute to the overall global competitiveness of the United States (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2011; Ferrini-Mundy, 2013; Campaign for Science and Engineering, 2014; Valantine and Collins, 2015). When the Framework was published, the NSF’s Broader Impacts merit review criterion (the standard by which all submitted proposals are assessed) included a question about the ability of the proposed activities to broaden the participation of groups underrepresented in science and engineering 1 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From the NSF: The National Science Foundation’s Investments in Broadening Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education through Research and Capacity Building

James

Singer

2016

LSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies have shown that diversity of thought and background promotes scientific progress (Page, 2008; Ferrini-Mundy, 2013; Freeman and Huang, 2014). Diverse teams of problem solvers outperform groups composed solely of the top performers (Hong and Page, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparing Postbaccalaureates for Entry and Success in Biomedical PhD Programs

Hall

Harrell

W.³

et al. 2016

LSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Driven by Diversity

Abstract: Evidence is growing on benefits, and approaches, to increase diversity in the science and engineering workforce.

Cited by 71 publications

References 2 publications

Closing achievement gaps with a utility-value intervention: Disentangling race and social class.

Closing achievement gaps with a utility-value intervention: Disentangling race and social class.

From the NSF: The National Science Foundation’s Investments in Broadening Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education through Research and Capacity Building

Preparing Postbaccalaureates for Entry and Success in Biomedical PhD Programs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About