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Helping to belong: Communal opportunities in STEM promote belonging in STEM

Belanger, Aimee L
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7969-4567
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1480295182899148

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Psychology.
The National Science Board (2015) reports that strengthening paths into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math careers is important to maintain the competitiveness of the United States. One way to strengthen paths into STEM careers is by addressing ostracism experiences in STEM pathways. Ostracism, being excluded or ignored by others, can decrease students’ sense of STEM belonging which is an important predictor of motivation, engagement, and persistence in the STEM fields. Highlighting communal opportunities, such as chances to work with others and help others in the STEM fields signals belonging in STEM and may be an effective way to promote recovery of STEM belonging following exclusion. Specifically, I hypothesize that greater beliefs that STEM fulfills communal goals will weaken the negative relationship between exclusion and belonging in STEM. I investigated this hypothesis in three studies. In Study 1, current STEM majors reported ostracism experiences, their beliefs that STEM fulfills communal goals, and their feelings of belonging to the STEM community. Greater experiences of ostracism predicted lower feelings of STEM belonging, whereas greater perceptions that STEM fulfills communal goals predicted greater STEM belonging. However, beliefs that STEM fulfills communal goals did not lessen the negative relationship between ostracism experiences and belonging in STEM. Studies 2 and 3 used experimental methods to examine the hypothesis. In both studies, college students who were identified with math and science reported baseline levels of their STEM belonging and general belonging. Next all participants wrote about a time they were excluded in the STEM fields. Following the exclusion writing, participants again reported STEM and general belonging. Participants then wrote about participating in a communal STEM career, a noncommunal STEM career, or a communal nonSTEM activity. Finally they reported STEM and general belonging again. The communal STEM writing task was particularly effective at promoting recovery of threatened STEM belonging, whereas the communal nonSTEM task was particularly effective at promoting recovery of general belonging. Together, these results suggest communal affordances signal belonging in STEM and can promote the recovery of belonging after exclusion in STEM. Furthermore, these findings indicate the importance of considering exclusion and belonging context in exclusion research. Finally, these findings suggest that intervening on beliefs about communal opportunities in STEM may be an effective way to encourage students to stay in STEM pathways even in the face of exclusion.
Amanda Diekman (Committee Chair)
Heather Claypool (Committee Member)
Kurt Hugenberg (Committee Member)
Jennifer Blue (Committee Member)
Social Psychology
STEM; Belonging; Exclusion; Goal congruity; Communal goals

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Belanger, A. L. (2016). Helping to belong: Communal opportunities in STEM promote belonging in STEM [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1480295182899148

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Belanger, Aimee. Helping to belong: Communal opportunities in STEM promote belonging in STEM. 2016. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1480295182899148.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Belanger, Aimee. "Helping to belong: Communal opportunities in STEM promote belonging in STEM." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1480295182899148

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1480295182899148
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.