Contemporary research on persistence in undergraduate education in science and engineering has fo... more Contemporary research on persistence in undergraduate education in science and engineering has focused primarily on identifying the structural, social, and psychological barriers to participation by students in underrepresented groups. As a result, there is a wealth of data to document why students leave their majors, but there is little direct empirical data to support prevailing presumptions about why students stay.
1997 International Symposium on Technology and Society Technology and Society at a Time of Sweeping Change. Proceedings, 1997
A common explanation for the under representation of women in faculty appointments in science, ma... more A common explanation for the under representation of women in faculty appointments in science, mathematics and engineering (SME) fields is that women drop out of graduate school without completing their degrees and thus are under-represented among those qualified for such appointments. This study explores both the empirical validity and textual sources for this explanation. An analysis of enrollment and graduation records for three cohorts entering graduate school at North Carolina State University from 1985 to 1987 for ten departments casts doubt on the notion that there are gender differences in completion rates. Close scrutiny of the literature often cited in support of claims about women's attrition reveals that such claims are not based on contemporary research findings. The study concludes that graduate attrition may no longer be key to understanding the under representation of women among science, mathematics, and engineering faculty. A better explanation may come from understanding how a later stage of training, the postdoctoral position, presents a new structural barrier to women's career advancement in SME fields.
Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse... more Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse representations of scientists could impede traditionally underserved students from persisting and succeeding in science. We evaluated a series of metacognitive homework assignments ("Scientist Spotlights") that featured counterstereotypical examples of scientists in an introductory biology class at a diverse community college. Scientist Spotlights additionally served as tools for content coverage, as scientists were selected to match topics covered each week. We analyzed beginning- and end-of-course essays completed by students during each of five courses with Scientist Spotlights and two courses with equivalent homework assignments that lacked connections to the stories of diverse scientists. Students completing Scientist Spotlights shifted toward counterstereotypical descriptions of scientists and conveyed an enhanced ability to personally relate to scientists following the ...
Focus groups can be utilized effectively across various stages of instrument development. This ar... more Focus groups can be utilized effectively across various stages of instrument development. This article details selected aspects of a process in which they were employed at the initial stages of item generation and refinement in a study of occupational stereotyping. The ...
The purpose of this study was to develop a contemporary measure of undergraduates' stereotyp... more The purpose of this study was to develop a contemporary measure of undergraduates' stereotypes of scientists that will make it possible to examine similarities and differences across time, place, culture, and demographics. The Stereotypes of Scientists (SOS) Scale is intended to be a catalyst for research that explores the degree to which college students' current stereotypes of scientists vary by their gender, ethnicity, country, education level, and academic major. The research was designed to identify the character and content of contemporary college students' images of scientists, both what they ‘do' in their day-to-day work and who they ‘are' as people. The majority of participants (n = 1,106) were college students. Fifty-seven possible items were generated from several sources. Results of exploratory factor analyses for the Stereotypes of Scientists (SOS) Scale indicate a twenty-two item, two-factor solution with the constructs of Professional Competen...
This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched co... more This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched content related to Women's and Gender Studies on students enrolled in an undergraduate ecology course. The two constructs of interest were (a) students' attitudes toward women in science and society and (b) students' assessment of the classroom climate for women. The data included 398 matched pretest and posttest survey responses from a control group, a minimal enrichment group, and an increased enrichment group. Findings indicated that, although small course revisions did not influence students' attitudes toward women in science and society, such revisions had a positive influence on students' assessments of the classroom climate.
Recent scholarship about women and science is a good source of material for addressing the under-... more Recent scholarship about women and science is a good source of material for addressing the under-representation of women in science. This review is the result of an interdisciplinary fusion of science and women's studies to critically assess teaching tools in undergraduate ecology education. We examine: (1) the representation of women and the coverage of social and cultural context in introductory ecology textbooks, and (2) student learning about women's contributions to ecology. Discipline demographics reveal that women are presented in textbooks less often than expected, and that explicit discussions of the social and cultural context of science are rare. When course content is enriched with material about women's contributions, student's awareness of women scientists improves. Such knowledge can play a critical role in proactively challenging students' perceptions of ecology and ecologists, creating a more positive classroom climate for all students, and introducing novel avenues of questioning and discovery.
Contemporary research on persistence in undergraduate education in science and engineering has fo... more Contemporary research on persistence in undergraduate education in science and engineering has focused primarily on identifying the structural, social, and psychological barriers to participation by students in underrepresented groups. As a result, there is a wealth of data to document why students leave their majors, but there is little direct empirical data to support prevailing presumptions about why students stay.
1997 International Symposium on Technology and Society Technology and Society at a Time of Sweeping Change. Proceedings, 1997
A common explanation for the under representation of women in faculty appointments in science, ma... more A common explanation for the under representation of women in faculty appointments in science, mathematics and engineering (SME) fields is that women drop out of graduate school without completing their degrees and thus are under-represented among those qualified for such appointments. This study explores both the empirical validity and textual sources for this explanation. An analysis of enrollment and graduation records for three cohorts entering graduate school at North Carolina State University from 1985 to 1987 for ten departments casts doubt on the notion that there are gender differences in completion rates. Close scrutiny of the literature often cited in support of claims about women's attrition reveals that such claims are not based on contemporary research findings. The study concludes that graduate attrition may no longer be key to understanding the under representation of women among science, mathematics, and engineering faculty. A better explanation may come from understanding how a later stage of training, the postdoctoral position, presents a new structural barrier to women's career advancement in SME fields.
Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse... more Research into science identity, stereotype threat, and possible selves suggests a lack of diverse representations of scientists could impede traditionally underserved students from persisting and succeeding in science. We evaluated a series of metacognitive homework assignments ("Scientist Spotlights") that featured counterstereotypical examples of scientists in an introductory biology class at a diverse community college. Scientist Spotlights additionally served as tools for content coverage, as scientists were selected to match topics covered each week. We analyzed beginning- and end-of-course essays completed by students during each of five courses with Scientist Spotlights and two courses with equivalent homework assignments that lacked connections to the stories of diverse scientists. Students completing Scientist Spotlights shifted toward counterstereotypical descriptions of scientists and conveyed an enhanced ability to personally relate to scientists following the ...
Focus groups can be utilized effectively across various stages of instrument development. This ar... more Focus groups can be utilized effectively across various stages of instrument development. This article details selected aspects of a process in which they were employed at the initial stages of item generation and refinement in a study of occupational stereotyping. The ...
The purpose of this study was to develop a contemporary measure of undergraduates' stereotyp... more The purpose of this study was to develop a contemporary measure of undergraduates' stereotypes of scientists that will make it possible to examine similarities and differences across time, place, culture, and demographics. The Stereotypes of Scientists (SOS) Scale is intended to be a catalyst for research that explores the degree to which college students' current stereotypes of scientists vary by their gender, ethnicity, country, education level, and academic major. The research was designed to identify the character and content of contemporary college students' images of scientists, both what they ‘do' in their day-to-day work and who they ‘are' as people. The majority of participants (n = 1,106) were college students. Fifty-seven possible items were generated from several sources. Results of exploratory factor analyses for the Stereotypes of Scientists (SOS) Scale indicate a twenty-two item, two-factor solution with the constructs of Professional Competen...
This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched co... more This study reports on a three-semester model project designed to assess the impact of enriched content related to Women's and Gender Studies on students enrolled in an undergraduate ecology course. The two constructs of interest were (a) students' attitudes toward women in science and society and (b) students' assessment of the classroom climate for women. The data included 398 matched pretest and posttest survey responses from a control group, a minimal enrichment group, and an increased enrichment group. Findings indicated that, although small course revisions did not influence students' attitudes toward women in science and society, such revisions had a positive influence on students' assessments of the classroom climate.
Recent scholarship about women and science is a good source of material for addressing the under-... more Recent scholarship about women and science is a good source of material for addressing the under-representation of women in science. This review is the result of an interdisciplinary fusion of science and women's studies to critically assess teaching tools in undergraduate ecology education. We examine: (1) the representation of women and the coverage of social and cultural context in introductory ecology textbooks, and (2) student learning about women's contributions to ecology. Discipline demographics reveal that women are presented in textbooks less often than expected, and that explicit discussions of the social and cultural context of science are rare. When course content is enriched with material about women's contributions, student's awareness of women scientists improves. Such knowledge can play a critical role in proactively challenging students' perceptions of ecology and ecologists, creating a more positive classroom climate for all students, and introducing novel avenues of questioning and discovery.
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