The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence
The benefits of belonging for academic performance and persistence have been examined primarily in terms of subjective perceptions of social belonging, but feeling ability belonging, or fit with one’s peers intellectually, is likely also important for academic success. This may particularly be the c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386/full |
| _version_ | 1818194033805099008 |
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| author | Sarah Banchefsky Karyn L. Lewis Tiffany A. Ito |
| author_facet | Sarah Banchefsky Karyn L. Lewis Tiffany A. Ito |
| author_sort | Sarah Banchefsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The benefits of belonging for academic performance and persistence have been examined primarily in terms of subjective perceptions of social belonging, but feeling ability belonging, or fit with one’s peers intellectually, is likely also important for academic success. This may particularly be the case in male-dominated fields, where inherent genius and natural talent are viewed as prerequisites for success. We tested the hypothesis that social and ability belonging each explain intentions to persist in physical science, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM). We further explore whether women experience lower social and ability belonging than men on average in pSTEM and whether belonging more strongly relates to intentions to persist for women. At three time points throughout a semester, we assessed undergraduate pSTEM majors enrolled in a foundational calculus or physics course. Women reported lower pSTEM ability belonging and self-efficacy than men but higher identification with pSTEM. End-of-semester social belonging, ability belonging, and identification predicted intentions to persist in pSTEM, with a stronger relationship between social belonging and intentions to persist in pSTEM for women than men. These findings held after controlling for prior and current academic performance, as well as two conventional psychological predictors of academic success. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:55:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6d3c86a028848f2ad9ff9e1d54fb813 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T00:55:52Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6d3c86a028848f2ad9ff9e1d54fb8132022-12-22T00:43:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-10-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386480126The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM PersistenceSarah Banchefsky0Karyn L. Lewis1Tiffany A. Ito2Office of Data Analytics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesCenter for School and Student Progress, NWEA, Portland, OR, United StatesDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesThe benefits of belonging for academic performance and persistence have been examined primarily in terms of subjective perceptions of social belonging, but feeling ability belonging, or fit with one’s peers intellectually, is likely also important for academic success. This may particularly be the case in male-dominated fields, where inherent genius and natural talent are viewed as prerequisites for success. We tested the hypothesis that social and ability belonging each explain intentions to persist in physical science, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM). We further explore whether women experience lower social and ability belonging than men on average in pSTEM and whether belonging more strongly relates to intentions to persist for women. At three time points throughout a semester, we assessed undergraduate pSTEM majors enrolled in a foundational calculus or physics course. Women reported lower pSTEM ability belonging and self-efficacy than men but higher identification with pSTEM. End-of-semester social belonging, ability belonging, and identification predicted intentions to persist in pSTEM, with a stronger relationship between social belonging and intentions to persist in pSTEM for women than men. These findings held after controlling for prior and current academic performance, as well as two conventional psychological predictors of academic success.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386/fullpSTEMSTEMgendersocial belongingability belongingpersistence |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Banchefsky Karyn L. Lewis Tiffany A. Ito The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence Frontiers in Psychology pSTEM STEM gender social belonging ability belonging persistence |
| title | The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence |
| title_full | The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence |
| title_short | The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence |
| title_sort | role of social and ability belonging in men s and women s pstem persistence |
| topic | pSTEM STEM gender social belonging ability belonging persistence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386/full |
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