A Descriptive Study of Race and Gender Differences in How Instructional Style and Perceived Professor Care Influence Decisions to Major in STEM

Autor/inn/en	Rainey, Katherine; Dancy, Melissa; Mickelson, Roslyn; Stearns, Elizabeth; Moller, Stephanie
Titel	A Descriptive Study of Race and Gender Differences in How Instructional Style and Perceived Professor Care Influence Decisions to Major in STEM
Quelle	In: International Journal of STEM Education, 6 (2019), Artikel 6 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Rainey, Katherine)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2196-7822
DOI	10.1186/s40594-019-0159-2
Schlagwörter	Racial Differences; Gender Differences; Teaching Styles; Majors (Students); STEM Education; College Seniors; Disproportionate Representation; Minority Group Students; Student Attitudes; College Faculty; Teacher Student Relationship; Females + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Rassenunterschied; Geschlechterkonflikt; Lehrstil; Unterrichtsstil; STEM; College; Colleges; Senior; Hochschule; Fachhochschule; Schülerverhalten; Fakultät; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Weibliches Geschlecht
Abstract	Background: Women and students of color are widely underrepresented in the majority of STEM fields. In order to investigate this underrepresentation, we interviewed over 200 male and female college seniors, primarily women and people of color, who either majored in STEM or started but dropped a STEM major. Here, we focus on one section of the longer interview that focused on students' perceptions of professor care as well as perceived and preferred instruction style. Additionally, we look at correlations between professor care, course interactivity, and sense of belonging. In our analysis, we examine student responses through the lens of gender, race, and their intersections. Results: We found that white women perceived their STEM professors cared about them and their learning the most while women of color reported the least perceived care. Notably, men, regardless of race, reported similar perceptions of professor care. We found that students commonly report their STEM courses were lecture-based but say they would prefer more active approaches. In particular, we found that women who left STEM majors reported more lecture-based instruction while stating the highest preference for active learning environments. We found that perceiving their professors cared was related to a greater sense of belonging in STEM. Additionally, we found that students who reported active classrooms also reported more professor care in their STEM field. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that active teaching environments may positively impact students' sense of belonging and desire to continue in STEM and that this impact may be higher for underrepresented students. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01