Gendered patterns in the construction of physics identity from motivational factors

Kalender, Z. Yasemin; Marshman, Emily; Schunn, Christian D.; Nokes‐Malach, Timothy J.; Singh, Chandralekha

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.15.020119

Cited by 98 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 94 publications

(183 reference statements)

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“…To answer RQ1, Table 1 shows that the mean values of all constructs for men and women are statistically significantly different in favor of men. This pattern is similar to that found in calculus-based physics courses [24,46,47] at the end of physics 2, despite the fact that women are the majority in the algebra-based physics courses (63%). One hypothesis for the gender gap in these constructs in Table 1 (indicated by their lower scores) is that women may be affected by previous experiences, stereotypes and biases about who belongs in physics and who can excel in physics, which may have accumulated over their life time.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

How the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs in algebra-based introductory physics

Cwik¹,

Whitcomb²,

Singh³

2020

2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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Societal stereotypes and biases pertaining to who belongs in physics and who can excel in physics can impact motivational beliefs, e.g., of women and racial and ethnic minority students in physics courses. This study investigates how the learning environment predicts male and female students' motivational beliefs including physics self-efficacy, interest, and identity at the end of year long (spanning two-semester) algebra-based introductory physics courses. These were courses at a large university in the US taken primarily by biological science majors many of whom are interested in health professions. Although women are not underrepresented in these physics courses, societal stereotypes and biases internalized by female students over their lifetime can still impact their motivational beliefs about physics. Our findings show gender gap in motivational beliefs favoring men. These findings can be useful to provide support and create an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in these courses.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

How the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs in algebra-based introductory physics

Cwik¹,

Whitcomb²,

Singh³

2020

2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

Self Cite

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“…1. Identity Framework [27], adapted from [9] in experimental physics. A student's physics identity is valuable beyond the scope of the introductory physics sequence, even for students who pursue courses of study in which physics may not be directly relevant.…”

Section: Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hermione and the Secretary: how gendered task division in introductory physics labs can disrupt equitable learning

2020

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Physics labs provide a unique opportunity for students to grow their physics identity and science identity in general since they provide students with an opportunity to tinker with experiments and analyze data in a low-stakes environment. However, it is important to ensure that all students are benefiting from the labs equally and have a positive growth trajectory. Through interviews and reflexive ethnographic observations, we identify and analyze two common modes of work that may disadvantage female students in introductory physics labs. Students who adopt the Secretary archetype are relegated to recording and analyzing data, and thus may miss out on much of the opportunity to grow their physics and science identities by engaging fully in the experimental work. Meanwhile, students in the Hermione archetype shoulder a disproportionate amount of managerial work, and also may not get an adequate opportunity to engage with different aspects of the experimental work that is essential for helping them develop their physics and science identities. We use a physics identity framework to investigate how students under these modes of work may experience stunted growth in their physics and science identity trajectories in their physics lab course. This stunted growth can then perpetuate and reinforce societal stereotypes and biases about who does physics. Our categorization not only gives a vocabulary to discussions about equity in the physics lab, but may also serve as a useful touchstone for those who seek to center equity in efforts to transform physics instruction.

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“…Therefore, supporting women in male dominated fields also necessitates promoting and supporting positive recognition and endorsement for their competence from mentors, academic advisors, and course instructors as well as their family members [74]. In particular, academic encouragement, support, and recognition have the potential to enhance their self-efficacy and interest, and help them develop positive identities in the physics-related fields [83][84][85][86][87].…”

Section: B Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damage caused by women’s lower self-efficacy on physics learning

Kalender

Marshman

Schunn

et al. 2020

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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Self-efficacy is an aspect of students' motivation that has been shown to play a critical role in students' engagement, participation, and retention in academic careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Since women are underrepresented in STEM domains such as physics, we studied female and male students' self-efficacy and its relation to learning outcomes in physics that can be useful for creating equitable and inclusive learning environments. In a longitudinal study, we surveyed approximately 1400 students in calculus-based physics 2 courses to investigate students' motivational beliefs in physics using a validated survey. We examined female and male students' self-efficacy scores and the extent to which self-efficacy related to learning outcomes (students' grades and conceptual post-test scores), especially the significant gender difference in conceptual post-test scores. To reveal the unique contribution of self-efficacy on outcomes, we controlled for several other variables including Physics 1 grades, SAT math scores, and conceptual pretest scores in physics. We found that the gender differences in conceptual post-test performance were mediated by the model variables. In particular, initial self-efficacy differences showed a direct effect on outcomes even when controlling for students' prior physics knowledge and skill differences, and self-efficacy also had the strongest total gender effect on conceptual learning. Given these findings, future work should focus on better understanding the drivers of these selfefficacy differences including the role that societal stereotypes and biases play in these in order to mitigate these differences.

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Gendered patterns in the construction of physics identity from motivational factors

Cited by 98 publications

References 94 publications

How the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs in algebra-based introductory physics

How the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs in algebra-based introductory physics

Hermione and the Secretary: how gendered task division in introductory physics labs can disrupt equitable learning

Damage caused by women’s lower self-efficacy on physics learning

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