Reciprocal Effects of Stereotypes and Perceived Teacher Support on Math Motivational Consequences: Gender by Race/Ethnicity

• In Event: Unpacking Gender and Race Dynamics in the Development of STEM Motivation Using Situated Expectancy-Value Theory

Abstract

Objectives
Understanding factors influencing adolescents’ gendered learning and motivational experiences in math is important to inform practices that support gender equity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Despite ample evidence on the impact of gender stereotypes on gender disparities in STEM (Cheryan et al., 2015), less is known about the gendered relations between gender stereotypes, perceived learning experiences (e.g., teacher support), motivational outcomes (e.g., expectancy, identity, achievement) in math. Accordingly, we tested the extent to which these relations vary by gender across the four major racial/ethnic groups in U.S. (i.e., Asian, Black, Latine, and White).

Theoretical Framework
Situated expectancy-value theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) suggests that individuals’ math motivational beliefs are influenced by their own gender stereotypes about math and their perceived math teacher support. Furthermore, SEVT posits that individuals’ beliefs, behaviors, and social environments are related reciprocally, such that, adolescents’ gender stereotypes both are influenced over time by their math teachers’ support and can influence the ways in which students interpret the support they receive from their math teachers. In this study, we particularly examined positive gender stereotypes about ability as the beliefs that people of their own gender are better at math than people of the opposite gender.

Method
Data were drawn from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. The sample were 21,450 adolescents (Mage = 14.53; 58.4% White; 48.9% female). Participants were in 9th grade in 2009 (T1), in 11th grade in 2011 (T2), and in post-graduation in 2013 (T3). We used multiple-group structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.8 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2017). Stereotypes were coded to indicate the extent to which (a) women believe that women are better at math than men and (b) men believe that men are better at math than women. See Table 1 for measures.

Significance
As shown in Figure 1, 11th graders’ positive gender stereotypes about ability and perceived math teacher support were positively related to their motivational beliefs in math. The associations with perceived math teacher instructional support were particularly strong across the groups defined by gender and race/ethnicity, underscoring the role of teachers in adolescents’ math motivational beliefs. The associations with positive gender stereotypes about ability were pronounced among boys relative to girls, reinforcing the benefits of math ability stereotypes for boys.
Our findings support the recursive nature of motivational processes. First, we found reciprocal effects of positive gender stereotypes about ability and perceived teacher support on motivation among Asian and White girls. That is, Asian and White girls’ more stereotypes about female superiority predict higher perceived support from their math teachers, and vice versa, which in turn predict increased math motivation over time. Second, we found reciprocal relations between achievement and motivation particularly among Latine and White students. Our findings highlight the importance of (a) encouraging positive stereotypes of math ability of members of one’s own gender and (b) supporting prior math success among Latine students as ways to achieve STEM equity.

Authors

• Hyewon Lee, University of California - Irvine

• Glona Lee-Poon, University of California - Irvine

• Sandra D. Simpkins, University of California - Irvine

• Jacquelynne S. Eccles, University of California - Irvine