Science as a classed and gendered endeavor: Persistence of two white female first‐generation college students within an undergraduate science context

Abstract

As colleges and universities aim for greater diversity in their undergraduate populations, one population researchers consider is first‐generation students, or students whose parents do not have a college education. The research reported here addresses first‐generation college students' discipline of study (e.g., biology) and its impact on their persistence. Exploring how female, low‐income, first‐generation college students evaluate their persistence within undergraduate science learning environments contributes to understanding how gender and social class influence persistence in STEM fields. Two White, female, low‐income, first‐generation college students were interviewed during their last year in college. Using constant comparative coding methods and Ricoeur's (Ricoeur [1984] Time and narrative, Volume I (K. McLaughlin & D. Pellauer, Trans.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press) description of narrative construction, common tensions were identified related to participants' descriptions of undergraduate science as competitive. These persistence‐related tensions are (1) differing experiences in lecture and lab, (2) managing time to work, study, and maintain family relationships, and (3) weighing their personal (family) priorities against the longer time it would take them to reach their science‐related career goals. These tensions depict a traditional undergraduate science learning environment focused on individuals and abstract knowledge that positions female lower‐income students as “academic non‐competitors” because of the importance of kinship ties and physical skills in their cultural background (Lareau [2002] American Sociological Review 67(5), 747–776; Lareau [2003] Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press). The participants' experiences support that the gendered and classed expectations needed to succeed in a science environment could be somewhat alleviated through reforms to traditional lecture and laboratory undergraduate science courses that promote cooperative student learning groups and integration of lecture with hands‐on activities. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 802–825, 2013

“What comes to mind when you think of science? The perfumery!”: Documenting science‐related cultural learning pathways across contexts and timescales

“…We respectfully disagree. As Wilson and Kittleson () state in relation to their use of participant narratives, the focus on participant‐relayed details about their own experiences is helpful to “…gain insight into the dynamic between the narratives…used to explain their experiences (agency), narratives used to position them in their context (structure), and the consequences of these cultural narratives for the participants' interpretation of their own persistence within science” (pp. 808–809).…”

Longitudinal associations among undergraduates' research experience, self-efficacy, and identity

“…For example, a woman who is African American likely faces challenges in her pursuit of a science degree that differ from the challenges faced by a woman who is European American. Although several qualitative studies provide rich insight into the experiences of individuals who identify with multiple marginalized groups (e.g., Johnson, 2007;Wilson & Kittleson, 2013), this work would be bolstered by large-scale quantitative and mixed-methods studies that make targeted comparisons between participants who differ on the basis of crosscutting social identities. Indeed, research conducted with African American youth suggests that an intersectionality framework may help to explain variation in academic outcomes among college and graduate students (e.g., Wood, Kurtz-Costes, & Copping, 2011).…”

Early experiences and integration in the persistence of first‐generation college students in STEM and non‐STEM majors

“…However, neither Crisp et al (2009) in their study on STEM nor Hartman and Hartman (2006) in their single-institution study on engineering found first-generation status to influence a students' likelihood of persisting in the major. Wilson and Kittleson (2013) offered conclusions based on a qualitative study of two women FGCSs in STEM majors. They found that these first-generation, low-income, women in STEM majors perceived challenges of not being positioned to "compete" in these majors due to culturally based priorities.…”