The Strong, Latent Science Identity Trajectories of Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

• In Event: Theory Into Practice in Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This descriptive, longitudinal, quantitative study investigated the trajectories of secondary and post-secondary student science identities. Combining quantitative analysis and an intersectional framework, this study implemented an interacted regression model to predict student science identity trajectories as a function of gender and race. Data analyses of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study 2009 (HSLS:09) demonstrated differences in the patterns of science identity development at the intersection of both gender and race. Women and underrepresented minority students demonstrated more robust, latent science identity development. Analyses revealed that neither gender nor race, considered individually, were statistically significant predictors of science identity development. An interaction effect was observed in groupings combined race by gender.

Author

• Maryellen Morrissey, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School