Am I a Science Person?

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

This research examined whether changes in students’ identification with science across the high school years and three-year post-high school graduation were in part attributed to parents’ differential beliefs about females and males’ science ability. Data from the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS:09) were used, which followed 23,503 students from 9th grade into the postsecondary years. The current analysis focused on a sub-sample of participants (n = 3,602). Weights were applied to account for missingness. At each timepoint, female (vs. male) students were less likely to view themselves as a “science person”. Parents’ gendered beliefs about science ability were negatively associated with female, but not male, students’ self-identification with science at each time point of the study. Latent growth curve analysis revealed positive, yet uneven, growth trajectories in female and male students’ self-identification with science over time. In turn, changes in science self-identification were explained by parents’ ability beliefs. The long-lasting implications of parents’ ability beliefs underscore a potential avenue for intervention to narrow the gender gap in STEM.

Authors

• Cecilia Cheung, University of California - Riverside

• Niwako Sugimura, University of California - Riverside