Thinking Like a Scientist: A Thematic Analysis of Students\u27 Experiences at the SACNAS Research Conference

The underrepresentation of minority students in STEM fields is a concern in today’s society. Research suggests that identity plays a major role in students’ ultimate success within these fields. Using identity theory as a theoretical framework, this study explores the ways in which identity affects the academic careers of underrepresented students in STEM. The participants of this study consisted of undergraduates from various colleges and universities around the United States that attended the SACNAS 2010 research conference. Thematic analysis was used to identify four overarching themes from a set of narrative responses collected after the event. The identified themes include (1) motivation and future endeavors, (2) networking, (3) experienced others, and (4) disadvantaged backgrounds. These themes were analyzed to further understand the importance that identifying as a scientist has on students in STEM

Mrs. Agentic: Perceptions of Women who Sustain Their Birth Surname After Marriage

As more women earn higher education degrees every year, it is clear gender roles are becoming more egalitarian within Western society. More common than ever before, women are earning more degrees than men and are taking on different roles then what was once expected of them. With this new freedom, women have shifted from playing a supportive role within society to branching out and creating their own established identity. Not only are women maintaining a separate identity in the professional world, but they are also maintaining a separate identity in their marriages. Correlating with the increased number of women in the professional world, there has been a popular trend of women sustaining their birth surname. Although women who sustain their surname are creating a separate identity for themselves, they are likely to be perceived as violating a traditional gender-role norm. In order to further investigate these perceptions, the current study examined perceptions of women who keep their surname upon marriage. Specifically, I focused on the attributes that are ascribed to women who retain their own surname after marriage

Research Mentoring and Scientist Identity: Insights from Undergraduates and their Mentors

Background Mentored research apprenticeships are a common feature of academic outreach programs that aim to promote diversity in science fields. The current study tests for links between three forms of mentoring (instrumental, socioemotional, and negative) and the degree to which undergraduates psychologically identify with science. Participants were 66 undergraduate-mentor dyads who worked together in a research apprenticeship. The undergraduate sample was predominantly composed of women, first-generation college students, and members of ethnic groups that are historically underrepresented in science. Results Findings illustrated that undergraduates who reported receiving more instrumental and socioemotional mentoring were higher in scientist identity. Further, mentors who reported engaging in higher levels of negative mentoring had undergraduates with lower scientist identity. Qualitative data from undergraduates’ mentors provided deeper insight into their motivation to become mentors and how they reason about conflict in their mentoring relationships. Conclusions Discussion highlights theoretical implications and details several methodological recommendations

Critical action to redress systemic oppression: a person-centered approach

IntroductionIn 2020, public outcry against police brutality prompted many social media users to post black squares and use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). Many of the people who posted these squares were engaging in performative action in the sense that they failed to engage with BLM’s history and core principles. Drawing from a critical action framework, the current research seeks to more deeply understand what drives people to engage in more versus less impactful forms of action to resist systemic oppression.MethodsWe employed a mixed-methods and person-centered methodological approach with the goal of providing nuanced information about factors that distinguish among individuals who engage in different forms of action. Participants were 359 undergraduates who reported that they engaged in some form of action to support BLM.FindingsLatent profile analysis identified three subgroups (i.e., latent classes) in the larger sample, which we labeled (1) intentional action, (2) intermediate action, and (3) passive action. Participants in each latent class differed from one another in their sociopolitical attitudes, sociodemographic background, and level of action to support BLM. Through the qualitative coding process, the research team unearthed three overarching themes and a range of subthemes that help to explain why the members of each class engaged in different forms of action.DiscussionWe conclude by proposing a flexible intervention that may motivate individuals to engage in critical action to support BLM

Who Cares About Being Gentle? The Impact of Social Identity and the Gender of One’s Friends on Children’s Display of Same-Gender Favoritism

This research assessed children’s same-gender favoritism by examining whether children value traits descriptive of their own gender more than traits descriptive of the other gender. We also investigated whether children’s proportion of same-gender friends relates to their same-gender favoritism. Eighty-one third and fourth grade children from the Midwest and West Coast of the U.S. rated how well 19 personality traits describe boys and girls, and how important each trait is for their gender to possess. Results replicate and extend past trait assignment research by demonstrating that both genders valued same-gender traits significantly more than other-gender traits. Results also indicated that boys with many same-gender friends derogated feminine-stereotyped traits, which has implications for research on masculinity norms within male-dominated peer groups

“Girls Don’t Propose! Ew.”

Thematic analysis was used to explore how emerging adults explained their preferences for two marriage traditions: marriage proposals and surname changes. Quantitative analyses were subsequently used to examine the association between benevolent sexism and participants' marriage-tradition preferences. A sample of 277 undergraduates (M = 19 years) completed a survey that included open- and closed-ended questions about attitudes toward marriage traditions and gender-role ideology. Results of the thematic analysis indicated that both women and men tended to hold traditional marriage preferences-especially with regards to marriage proposals. Multiple regression indicated that endorsing benevolent sexism was related to holding more traditional preferences. The findings are interpreted in relation to the role that hidden power may play in many heterosexual romantic relationships. © The Author(s) 2013

Friendship Groups, Personal Motivation, and Gender in Relation to High School Students' STEM Career Interest

Friendship group characteristics, motivation, and gender were investigated in relation to adolescents' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career interest. The sample was comprised of 468 high school students (M = 16 years, range = 13-18) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Participants rated their friendship group's support of STEM as well as their personal motivation in science. They separately rated the friendship group's support of English and personal motivation in English. Other predictors included friendship group characteristics (importance, gender composition) and background variables such as gender. Group support of STEM (but not English) and science motivation (but not English motivation) predicted STEM career interest. Group characteristics and participant gender moderated the effects. Findings suggest social identities and self-concepts may shape youths' STEM career choices. © 2012 Society for Research on Adolescence

Women Are More Likely Than Men to Use Tentative Language, Aren’t They? A Meta-Analysis Testing for Gender Differences and Moderators

Robin Lakoff proposed that women are more likely than men to use tentative speech forms (e.g., hedges, qualifiers/disclaimers, tag questions, intensifiers). Based on conflicting results from research testing Lakoff's claims, a meta-analysis of studies testing gender differences in tentative language was conducted. The sample included 29 studies with 39 independent samples and a combined total sample of 3,502 participants. Results revealed a statistically significant but small effect size (d =.23), indicating that women were somewhat more likely than men to use tentative speech. In addition, methodological moderators (operational definition, observation length, recording method, author gender, and year of study) and contextual moderators (gender composition, familiarity, student status, group size, conversational activity, and physical setting) were tested. Effect sizes were significantly larger in studies that (a) observed longer (vs. shorter) conversations, (b) sampled undergraduates (vs. other adults), (c) observed groups (vs. dyads), and (d) occurred in research labs (vs. other settings). The moderator effects are interpreted as supporting proposals that women's greater likelihood of tentative language reflects interpersonal sensitivity rather than a lack of assertiveness. In addition, the influence of self-presentation concerns in the enactment of gender-typed behavior is discussed. © The Author(s) 2011