What Works? Increasing the Participation of Women in Undergraduate Physics

Whitten, Barbara; Foster, Suzanne R.; Duncombe, Margaret L.; Allen, Patricia; Heron, Paula R. L.; McCullough, Laura; Shaw, Kathryn; Taylor, Beverley A. P.; Zorn, Heather M.

doi:10.1615/jwomenminorscieneng.v9.i34.30

Cited by 25 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Benefits of mentoring include improved academic performance (Campbell and Campbell 1997), social integration (Allen et al 1999), and retention rates (Mangold et al 2002). Being a part of a trusting mentoring relationship is especially crucial for women (McCormick et al 2014;Seymour and Hewitt 1997;Whitten et al 2003), underrepresented minorities (Cohen et al 1999;Tsui 2007), and first-generation college students (Harrell and Forney 2003;Tsui 2007) in the physical sciences. Such relationships help underrepresented students develop a sense of belonging (Lewis et al: Fitting in or opting out: a review of key social-psychological factors influencing a sense of belonging for women in *Correspondence: azaniews@asu.edu 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article physics, unpublished) and more positive science identities (Potvin and Hazari 2013), which are key for retention and success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing STEM success: a near-peer mentoring program in the physical sciences

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Mentoring supports professional success in a myriad of fields; in the physical sciences, mentoring increases the retention of diverse groups of students. While physics education has made progress in classifying the availability and structural components related to mentoring programs, little is known about the qualitative nature of mentoring relationships. This article draws from frameworks in science identity and belongs to analyze the nature of relationships in the mentoring program offered by the Sundial Project at Arizona State University, which aims to help new students with diverse backgrounds succeed in physics and related majors. To provide insight into mentoring relationships, we analyze over 150 reports submitted by mentors and mentees in a near-peer mentoring program. Results: Mentoring groups enjoyed positive rapport and often remarked upon becoming friends. As such, mentoring relationships provided mentees with both psychosocial and academic support. Mentoring supported students to deal with a wide variety of topics, ranging from academic to personal, according to the needs of individual mentees. Moreover, outcomes of students in the mentoring program were favorable; the mean GPA of participating mentees was 3.49 for their first college semester. Conclusions: Mentors acted both as guides who shared information and as caring friends who providing psychosocial support, including normalizing struggle. These connections supported students to develop a sense of belonging and positive science identities.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing STEM success: a near-peer mentoring program in the physical sciences

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Así lo muestran, entre otros, los estudios de Margolis y Fisher (2002), entrevistando estudiantes en el ámbito de las ciencias de la computación, y Whitten et al (2003), estudiando nueve departamentos de ciencias físicas, dos especialidades que cuentan en la mayoría de los países con las tasas más bajas de participación de mujeres. Margolis y Fisher (2002) identificaron una cultura dominante en los estudios de computación que coincide con los intereses de los hombres (desarrollo del currículo, baja intensidad de las relaciones sociales).…”

Section: Género Y Ctimunclassified

La voz de los estudiantes de primer año en seis países: evaluación de sus experiencias en estudios superiores científico-técnicos

Alonso

Más

2016

Ciênc. educ. (Bauru)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

La voz de los estudiantes de primer año en seis países: evaluación de sus experiencias en estudios superiores científico-técnicos *The voice of first-year students from six countries: evaluation of their experiences in higher scientific and engineering studiesResumen: Este estudio analiza la valoración de los estudiantes de seis países latinos sobre sus experiencias de primer año en educación superior de ciencias, tecnologías, ingenierías y matemáticas (CTIM). El objetivo es ofrecer pruebas empíricas sobre la importancia de distintos factores determinantes de la permanencia en los cursos universitarios de CTIM. Los estudiantes respondieron el cuestionario del proyecto Interés y Reclutamiento en Ciencia (IRIS); se presentan las respuestas relativas a las percepciones de los estudiantes sobre experiencias, expectativas cumplidas y valoración de resultados académicos. Se identifican los factores más y menos importantes, los perfiles nacionales de los seis países y las diferencias entre hombres y mujeres; aparecen muchas diferencias significativas entre países y algunas diferencias entre hombres y mujeres . Se discuten las implicaciones de los resultados para orientar las políticas institucionales que mejoren el reclutamiento, la retención (evitación del abandono) y la equidad de género en los cursos CTIM.Palabras clave: Educación superior. Carreras científicas. Experiencias de estudiantes. Equidad de género. Políticas de retención.Abstract: This paper presents the students' evaluation of their first-year experiences in a higher education career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in six Latin countries. The aim is to provide evidence-based data about the importance of the influencing factors on the retention of higher education STEM courses. The students answered the questionnaire of the IRIS (Interests and Recruitment in Science) project, and the paper analyses the students' perceptions about college experiences, fulfilment of expectations, and appreciation of academic achievements. The findings show the highest and lowest influential factors, the national profiles across the six countries and the gender differences; there are many significant differences among countries as well as some differences between men and women. The implications of the results on the orientation of institutional policies for improving the recruitment, the retention (avoiding drop out) and the gender equity in higher education STEM courses are discussed.

show abstract

“…We use this as an op-portunity to reinforce lab math skills. Students use their DNA quantitation results to determine the amount of DNA necessary to have [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] (Tables I and II). Because we were working with mosses that had not previously been used in studies with RAPD primers, we chose an assortment of primers, some of which work better than others.…”

Section: Lab Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Incorporation of at least one SDOI experience in a course has the potential to engage students and encourage them to continue their participation in scientific research. Further, innovative teaching methods [5] with an emphasis on application of science to ''real-world'' problems [6,7] can increase interest and persistence among female and underrepresented groups in science programs [8].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

From trace evidence to bioinformatics: Putting bryophytes into molecular biology education

Fuselier

Bougary

Malott

2011

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Students benefit most from their science education when they participate fully in the process of science in the context of real-world problems. We describe a student-directed open-inquiry lab experience that has no predetermined outcomes and requires students to engage in all components of scientific inquiry from posing a question through evaluating and reporting results. Over 5 weeks, students learn how bryophytes are used in forensics and become proficient in important molecular biology lab skills including DNA isolation, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis, and genotyping. For this portion of the experience, there is no specialized equipment necessary outside of gel electrophoresis supplies and a thermocycler. In an optional extension of the experience, students sequence a plastid intron and use introductory bioinformatics skills to identify species related to their forensics case. Students who participated in the lab experience performed well on content-based assessment, and student attitudes toward the experience were positive and indicative of engaged learning. The lab experience is easily modified for higher or lower level courses and can be used in secondary education.

show abstract

What Works? Increasing the Participation of Women in Undergraduate Physics

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Increasing STEM success: a near-peer mentoring program in the physical sciences

Increasing STEM success: a near-peer mentoring program in the physical sciences

La voz de los estudiantes de primer año en seis países: evaluación de sus experiencias en estudios superiores científico-técnicos

From trace evidence to bioinformatics: Putting bryophytes into molecular biology education

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About