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ABSTRACT This review highlights how research aimed at increasing women's interest and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is critical to U.S. national interests. STEM expertise undergirds national security and the knowledge‐based national economy. However, the U.S. faces a STEM talent crisis, with job growth projected to exceed the number of individuals with STEM expertise. Addressing the STEM labor shortage requires continuing to support those who have historically pursued STEM while also seeking to broaden who is attracted to and flourishes in STEM. Behavioral scientists have focused on understanding the importance of feeling a sense of belonging in STEM, with research showing that feeling personally accepted, respected, and included as one's authentic self in STEM facilitates success among all students. At the same time, this research has identified numerous factors that selectively decrease women's sense of belonging in STEM, creating an additional barrier among women to success in STEM. Fortunately, the identification of these barriers also reveals how to increase belonging among all students, and among women specifically. Continuing to support research on broadening participation in STEM is thus critical for the safety, prosperity, and health of all Americans.
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“They Have Shown Me It Is Possible to Thrive within STEM”: Incorporating Learning Assistants in General Chemistry Enhances Student Belonging and Confidence
Students often experience social and psychological barriers to success in General Chemistry, which is a key gateway to many students’ science pathways. Learning assistants (LAs) have the potential to reduce these barriers and to strengthen students’ sense of belonging in General Chemistry and STEM more broadly. Here, we used a 17-item Likert scale to determine whether incorporating LAs into General Chemistry I and II enhances students’ sense of belonging in these courses. The incorporation of LAs into General Chemistry I had a significant positive effect and a medium to large effect size for students in all student groups examined: women and men; students in both racially and ethnically underrepresented and well-represented groups; first- and continuing-generation students. In General Chemistry II, similar results were observed for women and men; students in well-represented racial and ethnic groups; continuing-generation students. Further, we asked students to reflect on the impact that working with LAs had on their sense of belonging in STEM and confidence in talking about science. Sixty percent of students indicated that working with LAs had a positive impact on their STEM belonging, with five themes describing LA impacts: reducing isolation, serving as inspirational role models, providing mentoring, increasing opportunities for engagement and confidence building, and serving as accessible and approachable sources of support. Sixty-one percent of students also indicated that working with LAs increased their confidence in talking about science, with three themes emerging: fostering an environment with a lower risk of negative judgment, providing increased opportunities for feedback, and supporting students as they practiced their growing skills. Together, these results indicate that LAs can be an important means to reduce social and psychological barriers for students in gateway science courses, increasing their sense that they belong to the class and STEM more broadly.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2235244
- PAR ID:
- 10497550
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Chemical Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Chemical Education
- Volume:
- 100
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 0021-9584
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 4200 to 4211
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c01224
