Group roles in unstructured labs show inequitable gender divide

Quinn, Katherine N.; Kelley, Michelle M.; McGill, Kathryn L.; Smith, Emily M.; Whipps, Zachary; Holmes, N. G.

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.16.010129

Cited by 46 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…For example, groups where female students are underrepresented in the group have been found to be inequitable [4,19]. In physics labs, specifically, mixed-gender groups have been found to be inequitable as students divide tasks along gender lines [2,3,9,10]. In this work, however, we find evidence that gender is not a necessary variable for predicting group equity:…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…In group work, that means that students should have equal opportunities to participate [12] with "shared authority and power in driving group activity" [13, p.1]. In more open-ended labs, power dynamics and shared authority are particularly salient, and students use their agency to design their own experiments and make experimentation decisions [2]. For example, students must make a range of decisions including choosing equipment, selecting proper analysis tools, determining sources of uncertainties, or interpreting results.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instructional physics labs are typically interactive learning environments, but research has shown that student interactions can be a source of inequity in their learning [e.g. [1][2][3][4]. To understand the wide range of equitable and inequitable interactions among students, we build on a methodology to characterize the equity of student lab groups through bids and the notion of inchargeness [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A person who controls the conversation more than others, however, can be considered generally in charge. Because prior research has found inequitable gendered patterns in participation in lab activities [2,3,9,10], our research seeks to understand the relation between inchargeness, equity, and gender.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How do gender and inchargeness interact to affect equity in lab group interactions?

Jeon¹,

Kalender²,

Sayre³

et al. 2020

2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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In physics lab groups, students experience a wide range of equitable and inequitable interactions. After observing videos of students collaborating in an introductory physics lab, we defined that an equitable group is one in which every student's bids are heard by their peers. We developed a methodology to characterize different lab groups by tracking students' bid exchanges and assessing their levels of inchargeness. The analysis of equitable and inequitable groups showed that lab groups where one student is in charge can be equitable, as long as each group member's opinions are acknowledged. We also found that gender and inchargeness do not sufficiently predict the equity of student groups. Based on these results, we argue that students that are in charge use their inchargeness to make their groups either equitable or inequitable. Future work will explore whether additional variables interact with inchargeness to predict levels of equity in group work.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How do gender and inchargeness interact to affect equity in lab group interactions?

Jeon¹,

Kalender²,

Sayre³

et al. 2020

2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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“…While a 50/50 split might sound equitable on the surface, as reported by previous work [17,[37][38][39][40], more so than in samegender groups it is not uncommon for students in mixedgender lab groups to engage in gendered task division in which men tend to do one type of work while women tend to do another. Thus, the mutuality of engagement associated with a "fair split" of the work is markedly different from, and may be less equitable than, the mutuality of engagement associated with an distribution of the learning activities in which each group member participates equally in all aspects of the work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

What Makes a Good Physics Lab Partner?

Doucette¹,

Clark²,

Singh³

2020

2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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Students who take lab courses engage in active, collaborative learning that has the potential to teach scientific thinking skills while also stimulating students' interest in science and developing their self-efficacy. We describe different types of collaboration in terms of the mutuality of engagement they represent, and investigate how these different types of collaboration impacted student interest and self-efficacy in introductory physics labs. We surveyed college physics students about their beliefs and experiences regarding working with a lab partner. We find that when asked explicitly about what they valued in a lab partner, a majority of students noted that they wanted a "fair split" of the work. However, we find that students experienced improved physics interest and self-efficacy when they participated equally in all aspects of the lab, such as operating the apparatus and recording the data, which is a different form of mutuality of engagement. This form of participation disproportionately benefited women, a traditionally disadvantaged group in physics labs. Our findings suggest that students' physics interest and self-efficacy might be positively impacted in lab courses that are designed to ensure that students participate equally in all aspects of the lab work, as opposed to lab courses in which students split up their work inequitably, as they might prefer to do.

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