Elements of the Learning Environment Influencing Minoritized Students’ Trust in their STEM Instructors

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Trust, Mentorship, and Belonging for Minoritized and Underserved Students in STEM (Table 33)

Abstract

A trusting relationship between students and instructors can be foundational to students’ academic success and overall well-being. Given this, student-instructor trust merits further examination in contexts that continue to be plagued with inequitable student outcomes, such as the STEM disciplines. In this study, we interviewed 21 students who self-identified as first-generation college students and students of color to understand the extent to which these students described noticing the five facets of trust per Tschannen-Moran & Hoy’s (2000) framework (benevolence, reliability, competence, honesty, openness) in their interactions with their STEM instructors. Students identified instructor behaviors and course structures that contribute to developing trust, pointing to the need for instructors to attend to both of these avenues for gaining minoritized students’ trust.

Authors

• Yoon Ha Choi, Digital Promise

• Vicente Velasco, University of Washington

• Sumitra Tatapudy, University of Washington

• Elli Theobald, University of Washington

• Sarah L. Eddy, University of Minnesota