Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future

Traxler, Adrienne L.; Cid, Ximena; Blue, Jennifer; Barthelemy, Ramón S.

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.12.020114

Cited by 144 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…For a more recent summary of research into possible explanations of male and female performance differences in physics see Henderson et al [40]. For a more general discussion of gender in physics see Traxler et al [8]. For an overview of gender disparities in STEM see Eddy and Brownell [41].…”

Section: A Gender Gap Investigations Of the Fcimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coding all students (typically from institutional records) as male or female simplifies the complexity of gender identity, ignores the nuances of individual experiences, and (in the case of DIF) uses male students as the measure of "normal" against which female students are compared [8]. We chose to replicate these assumptions for the purpose of engaging with the long tradition of gender gap studies that follow this model.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Sample 2, all problematic pretest items had P < 0.2 while problematic post-test items for male students had P > 0. 8 Table IV …”

Section: A Difficulty and Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though these investigations have probed the structure and validity of the test, they have primarily treated student data as a single undifferentiated sample and have not studied gender effects. A largely separate branch of research has explored gender differences in scores on the FCI and other conceptual inventories [7,8]. These studies have documented a ubiquitous advantage for men on pretest questions, which often persists to the post-test.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We acknowledge that a binary view of gender in physics education is at best a first-order model, simplifying a wide range of sociocultural factors and nuanced gender identities into two categories [8]. Nonetheless, this model has been the basis for reporting many score differences on standardized instruments such as the FCI.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory

Traxler

Henderson

Stewart

et al. 2018

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

134

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Research on the test structure of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has largely ignored gender, and research on FCI gender effects (often reported as "gender gaps") has seldom interrogated the structure of the test. These rarely crossed streams of research leave open the possibility that the FCI may not be structurally valid across genders, particularly since many reported results come from calculus-based courses where 75% or more of the students are men. We examine the FCI considering both psychometrics and gender disaggregation (while acknowledging this as a binary simplification), and find several problematic questions whose removal decreases the apparent gender gap. We analyze three samples (total N pre ¼ 5391, N post ¼ 5769) looking for gender asymmetries using classical test theory, item response theory, and differential item functioning. The combination of these methods highlights six items that appear substantially unfair to women and two items biased in favor of women. No single physical concept or prior experience unifies these questions, but they are broadly consistent with problematic items identified in previous research. Removing all significantly gender-unfair items halves the gender gap in the main sample in this study. We recommend that instructors using the FCI report the reduced-instrument score as well as the 30-item score, and that credit or other benefits to students not be assigned using the biased items.

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Section: A Gender Gap Investigations Of the Fcimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Sample 2, all problematic pretest items had P < 0.2 while problematic post-test items for male students had P > 0. 8 Table IV …”

Section: A Difficulty and Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory

Traxler

Henderson

Stewart

et al. 2018

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

134

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“I am a young immigrant woman doing physics and on top of that I am Muslim”: Identities, intersections, and negotiations

Avraamidou

2019

J Res Sci Teach

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Framed within intersectionality and using science identity as a unit of analysis, in this single case study I explore the barriers, difficulties, and conflicts that Amina, a young Muslim woman, immigrant in Western Europe confronted throughout her trajectory in physics and the ways in which her multiple identities intersected. The main sources of data consisted of three long biographical interviews, which were analyzed through a constant comparative method. The analysis of the data provided insights into how intrapersonal, interpersonal, sociocultural factors, alongside a myriad of experiences nurtured Amina's intersectional identities and what this may mean for Muslim women's participation in physics. The findings are summarized in two main assertions: (a) Amina was confronted with various barriers across her journey in physics with the intersection of religion and gender being the major barrier to her perceived recognition due to cultural expectations, sociopolitical factors, and negative stereotypes and (b) Amina's social class, religion, gender performance, and ethnic status positioned her as Other in various places throughout her trajectory in physics, and consequently hindered her sense of belonging. These findings suggest the urgency and importance of: (a) examining the intersection of science identity with other identities, especially, religion, gender, and ethnicity for the purpose of extrapolating a more comprehensive understanding of how minoritized groups participate in science; (b) rethinking recognition through an explicit intersectionality lens across various geographical and sociopolitical contexts; and (c) transforming physics into a diverse world where multiple ways of being are recognized, where minoritized groups will not have to compartmentalize parts of their identities to exist, and where they can perform their authentic and intersectional identities.

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The context dependence of physics identity: Examining the role of performance/competence, recognition, interest, and sense of belonging for lower and upper female physics undergraduates

et al. 2020

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While there is a growing body of work that examines disciplinary identity development, unlike qualitative work in this area, quantitative research has not fully incorporated the importance of different contexts, nor has it uniquely focused on underrepresented groups (in this case, women in physics). This study examines how the constructs posited by prior work as important for physics identity, as well as an additional theorized construct, may interrelate and affect female students' physics identity differently depending on the context. Context in this study refers to two different experiential levels in college. The constructs examined include performance/competence, recognition, and interest, as well as sense of belonging. In particular, we used structural equation modeling to examine the effect that these constructs have on the physics identity of two groups of female physics undergraduates: first year students and senior year students. The results reveal that the relationship of the theorized constructs with physics identity vary between the two groups as well as compared to prior research with broad college student populations (not just physics majors). Unlike broad college student populations, for our sample of female physics undergraduates, interest did not have a direct effect on physics identity while sense of belonging was significant only for senior year students. These results exemplify the importance of examining context or different types of student experiences when studying disciplinary identity development rather than generalizing previous frameworks to all contexts.

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Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future

Cited by 144 publications

References 94 publications

Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory

Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory

“I am a young immigrant woman doing physics and on top of that I am Muslim”: Identities, intersections, and negotiations

The context dependence of physics identity: Examining the role of performance/competence, recognition, interest, and sense of belonging for lower and upper female physics undergraduates

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