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1. Recognition of Subtle Bias Tempers Explicit Gender Stereotyping Among STEM Students

   Slade Morris, D.; Burley, L C.; Sekaquaptewa, D.; & Meadows, L. A. (January 2022, Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education)

   The overarching goal of this research project is to provide a novel contribution to perceived bias research by testing the hypothesis that mere exposure to instances of subtle gender bias in STEM settings can have important effects on observers, depending on whether they recognize such events as gender bias or do not see it as bias. The goal of the first of five experiments was to assess how witnessing subtle gender bias events influences explicit stereotype activation among people who recognize the events as gender stereotyping as well as those who do not. We utilized video materials that were developed and tested in our previous NSF research that show a group of four engineering students, 2 women and 2 men, working together on an engineering design task. There are two versions of the video: one in which the students engaged in subtle gender bias (bias version), and one in which the students engaged in neutral interactions (control version). Over 400 participants were recruited from a large midwestern research university from computer science and engineering majors in which 30% or fewer majors are women. The survey included assessments of perceptions of gender stereotyping in the video, general stereotype endorsement and STEM stereotype endorsement, and three individual difference measures (gender-based rejection sensitivity, sexism sensitivity and negative emotionality) used as covariates in analyses. We found that participants who saw the bias video reported greater explicit stereotyping when they failed to recognize gender bias in the video. When they did recognize bias, they reported explicit stereotyping at levels similar to those in the control condition. This pattern suggests that exposure to subtle gender bias events may have activated gender stereotypes, but when participants recognized the events as gender bias, they tempered their explicit stereotyping. 

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2. Delahanty, C., & Silverman, J. (2022, August), Lived Experiences that Influence How Women Engineering Majors Describe Themselves as Creative, Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference Content Access, https://peer.asee.org/collections/131

   Delahanty, C.; Silverman, J. (August 2022, 2022 ASEE Annual Conference Content Access)

   Engineering is a creative profession where diverse perspectives of both men and women are crucial to the field. The importance of better understanding the pipeline of female students into engineering, and the path to their success in the major is evident. In 2017, women comprised approximately 20% of engineering graduates, up from 18% in 1997, and 15% never entered the engineering workforce. In 2019, women comprised 48% of the workforce, 34% of the STEM workforce, and only 16% of practicing engineers, a 3% increase from 2009. In an effort to better understand these disparities, this mixed methods research investigated the creative self-efficacy (CSE) of women engineering majors and their beliefs about creativity in relation to lived experiences and explores the research question: In what ways do undergraduate women engineering students describe their creativity and how their lived experiences influenced their decision to major in engineering? The researchers investigated the lived experiences of women engineering students before they entered the engineering major in relation to the way they described themselves as creative. A survey of CSE and beliefs about creativity was administered to 121 undergraduate women engineering students who volunteered for this study. Interviews were conducted of 15 participants selected from survey results with different levels of CSE who met the researcher’s criteria for success in the engineering major. The findings of this study lead to several conclusions: (1) students’ descriptions of themselves as creative corresponded more with the arts than to innovation in engineering; (2) students who described themselves as less creative: (a) had a lower level of CSE; (b) had a greater exposure to engineering in high school through engineering-centered courses and clubs; (c) had a family member who worked in the profession; (d) described more negative classroom experiences at all educational levels that involved intimidation, isolation, and gender-bias. 

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3. Overcome Gender Discrimination in STEM Using the Case Study Method

   Carrigan, C.; Folks, L.; Tumiel Berhalter, L.; Schiller, N. (January 2022, PEER)

   N/A (Ed.)

   In 2019, women made up about half of the U.S. workforce but only 27% of the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Women pursuing careers in STEM workforces often face gender bias, discrimination, and harassment, yet seldom receive instruction on how to best handle such issues. The National Science Foundation-funded NAVIGATE Project aims to address this situation by providing women STEM graduate students with educational materials on how to recognize and confront discrimination, both interpersonally and organizationally. The skills-based program uses a case study approach, which promotes the internalization of learning and the development of analytical and decision-making skills, as well as proficiency in oral communication and teamwork. Each case study is coupled with discussion questions for individual and group reflection, as well as a complete facilitation guide with possible answers for those leading the training, to promote meaningful engagement with the material. The NAVIGATE facilitators will lead workshop participants through this novel case study approach to supporting the career persistence by women in STEM. The session will include research on the role change agents play in retaining women in STEM. It will also give participants opportunities to work collectively to strategize on how to impart graduate students with the skills necessary to (1) recognize gender bias, harassment and discrimination when encountered, and (2) act to overcome career adversity created by gender bias, harassment, and discrimination to persist in their STEM careers and become transformational leaders in their fields. 

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4. Intersectional Engineers: The Diversity of Gender and Race Microaggressions and Their Effects in Engineering Education

   https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889  

   True-Funk, A.; Poleacovschi, C.; Jones-Johnson, G.; Feinstein, S.; Smith, K.; Luster-Teasley, S. (January 2020, Journal of management in engineering)

   Abstract: Underrepresented minorities in engineering regularly experience subtle behaviors or statements that denigrate them on account of their race, ethnicity, gender, or other identity. Engineering students cite these behaviors, known as microaggressions, as reasons for having considered changing majors or leaving college altogether. Despite the recent research trend to foster a more racially, ethnically, and genderinclusive engineering education and profession, previous research does not examine microaggressions in engineering using an intersectional lens. Without an intersectional perspective, intragroup diversity is overlooked, increasing the potential to reinforce broad racial and gender stereotypes. To measure the effects of microaggressions among engineering undergraduate students, the current study used an intersectional approach and collected data from a predominantly white institution (PWI) and from a historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The authors conducted individual semistructured interviews to examine the effects of microaggressions among 42 engineering undergraduate students, who can be categorized into seven intersectional identities—White women, African American men, African American women, Asian men, Asian women, Latino men, and Latina women. Results showed five macroeffects and two microeffects—(1) reduced self-belief (reduced self-efficacy and reduced self-esteem), (2) otherness, (3) racial/gender isolation, (4) stereotype threat, and (5) and empowered sense of self. Also, in this work, we make comparisons across intersectional identities. The data provide support for further study of microaggressions and their effects on intersectional identities. This research extends the intersectional approach to focus on engineering departments and colleges and provides information to engineering departments and university administrators concerning the experiences of minority undergraduates and offers academic leaders further information regarding issues surrounding minority student retention and persistence. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers. 

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5. Relative Impact of Values-Oriented and Mindset-Oriented Interventions on Academic Success of Introductory Biology Students Attending 2-Year or 4-Year Institutions

   https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00102-22  

   Rollwagen-Bollens, Gretchen; Kibota, Travis; Crosby, Catherine (December 2022, Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education)

   Parks, Samantha T. (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Diversifying the STEM workforce is a national priority, yet white males continue to dominate the ranks of professional scientists and engineers in the United States. This is partly due to disparities in academic success for women and minoritized students in prerequisite introductory STEM courses, leading to higher attrition from B.S. degree programs. Past research has demonstrated that when social-psychological interventions targeting “stereotype threat” or “fixed” mindsets are implemented in STEM courses, equity gaps may be significantly reduced. We incorporated two such interventions into introductory biology courses for life science B.S. majors and Associate’s degree allied health students taught at a regional research university and a community college. We observed no significant effects of the values-affirmation interventions on grade outcomes for students in any of the courses, regardless of students' gender identity, race/ethnicity, or first-generation status, suggesting that students, on average, were not experiencing stereotype threat on either campus. We found a significant positive association between completing more weekly reflective journal entries and higher mean content-based grades for students in the university majors course overall, especially first-generation students, although the association was significantly negative for women. Our results confirm that context matters when implementing interventions aimed at reducing achievement gaps, and we propose that educators assess their students’ social-psychological characteristics and then select interventions accordingly. 

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