Sources of Male and Female Students’ Belonging Uncertainty in the Computer Sciences

Abstract

Belonging uncertainty, defined as the general concern about the quality of one’s social relationships in an academic setting, has been found to be an important determinant of academic achievement, and persistence. However, to date, only little research investigated the sources of belonging uncertainty. To address this research gap, we examined three potential sources of belonging uncertainty in a sample of undergraduate computer science students in Germany ( N = 449) and focused on (a) perceived affective and academic exclusion by fellow students, (b) domain-specific academic self-efficacy beliefs, and (c) perception of one’s individual performance potential compared to that of fellow students in the field. Perceived affective and academic exclusion by fellow students and domain-specific academic self-efficacy beliefs were significant predictors of female students’ uncertainty about belonging in computer science. The perception of one’s individual performance potential in comparison to that of fellow students, however, was a relevant predictor of both male and female students’ belonging uncertainty in computer science. Our findings imply an expanded view of the theoretical concept of belonging uncertainty that goes beyond mere concerns of social connectedness.

Perceived Peer Exclusion as Predictor of Students’ Help-Seeking Strategies in Higher Education

“…The higher their perceived potential in comparison to their peers, the less they felt they belonged to their study program. These results stand in stark contrast to the typical findings for female students in STEM domains, where belonging uncertainty is also caused by a perceived academic mismatchalbeit in the form of worries about academic underachievement and inferiority (Höhne & Zander, 2019;Banchefsky et al, 2019). Moreover, researchers suggested that students who belong to minority groups facing a negative ability-related stereotype can be particularly sensitive to the quality of their social bonds in challenging and achievement-oriented environments.…”

“…In university contexts, peer friendships have been shown to emerge out of collaborative academic exchanges (Zander et al, 2018). Furthermore, research has shown that students who feel rejected or excluded by their peers report lower academic self-competence, academic self-concepts, achievement motivation, and belonging (Höhne & Zander, 2019;Walton & Cohen, 2007;Wesselmann et al, 2019), ultimately resulting in lower achievement (Buhs, 2005;Flook et al, 2005;Gopalan & Brady, 2020;Walton & Brady, 2020). Hence, we argue that sensing that one is not part of existing private off-campus or collaborative exchanges to tackle academic challenges can also hold students back from seeking adaptive help from their fellow students in academic settings.…”

“…Often for the first time, students cannot draw back on existing peer groups and cliques to help them master challenging course content. While this transition is challenging for many students (Strayhorn, 2018), much research has demonstrated that additional obstacles emerge for students who belong to a minority: frequently, these students doubt their belonging to the new learning environment, catalyzed by experiencing greater social exclusion and their perceived lower academic aptitude compared to their peers (Höhne & Zander, 2019;Gopalan & Brady, 2020). Forming effective helping relations with fellow students can be important in managing these challenges (e. g., Brouwer et al, 2018;Lomi et al, 2011) because they create opportunities for social interaction, the exchange of resources among fellow students (e. g., Zander et al, 2018;Borgatti & Lopez-Kidwell, 2011), and positively affect academic outcomes (Thomas, 2000).…”

The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence

“…Schmader and Sedikides (2018) recently argued that sense of “fit” with an environment is multifaceted and dimensions other than social fit also influence an individual’s decision to pursue a domain (see also Höhne and Zander, 2019). They also theorize that evaluations of social belonging are relevant only when social interactions are expected.…”

Sense of Belonging as an Important Factor in the Pursuit of Physics: Does It Also Matter for Female Participants of the German Physics Olympiad?

“…Uncertainty of belonging was found to depend on how participants assessed their own abilities in comparison to that of other students. Additionally, female students' perceived exclusion, both on affective and academic levels, and self-efficacy in the field were further predictors of uncertainty of belonging in the field (Höhne and Zander, 2019). At the college level, it was shown that stereotype threat can hinder women in science from forming social connections to other students, even more so when having lower belonging (Martiny and Nikitin, 2019).…”