Intellectual Merit: This project builds on a previously funding NSF award (0733918) to further test a new theoretical model, the Academic and Social Engagement (ASE) Model, that highlights two psychosocial factors that contribute to women's STEM engagement at different phases during the progression through STEM education and career development: 1) developing and integrating a STEM identity into one's self-concept, and 2) identifying and using social, academic, workplace, and psychological coping resources that provide information, tangible assistance, and social support to facilitate engagement despite impediments. There are at least five critical phases en route to the STEM profession: 1) beginning of undergraduate STEM education; 2) advanced undergraduate STEM education; 3) entry into STEM graduate education and the STEM workforce; 4) master's and doctoral level STEM education and training; and 5) movement into the advanced STEM workforce. Using daily, weekly, and cross-sectional surveys with 400+ STEM undergraduates to date, the ASE model has been tested in the two early phases and consistent with the model, has generated compelling evidence for the importance of these two key factors in fostering STEM engagement. This second stage project will examine the later phases in the transition to a STEM career. Using experience sampling methods (ESM) comprising survey instruments administered daily, weekly, bi-monthly, and cross-sectionally, the proposed project will include two groups of participants: students in the previous project as they progress into the next phases of STEM career attainment (entry into STEM graduate education and/or workforce), and new cohorts of incoming graduate students as they enter STEM graduate education, master's and doctoral level STEM education and training, and move into the advanced STEM workforce. Using daily, weekly, and bi-monthly diaries at targeted points of stress and challenge at each phase (e.g., during comprehensive examinations, dissertation preparation), the research will examine whether identity integration and coping resources predict greater STEM engagement despite the presence of impeding factors for STEM women and comparison groups of STEM men. Broader Impacts: Results from this project may be used as an empirical foundation for the development of interventions that target identity integration and coping resources to promote the engagement, success, and retention of women in STEM fields at multiple levels of training and work. The project team includes a diverse group of predominantly female graduate and undergraduate students from ethnic groups underrepresented in science who will be mentored in research relevant to psychology, gender studies, and related disciplines. Findings will be communicated in professional journals and at conferences that reach scholars in education, gender studies, developmental, health, and social psychology as well as college administrators, academic counselors, STEM scholars, and high school teachers. Dissemination will also be through an existing project website and in widely distributed news sources.
Our Advancing Women in Science through later life Transitions grant proposes a theoretically grounded Academic and Social Engagement (ASE) model that is being empirically tested using novel methodological approaches drawn from social, developmental, and health psychology disciplines. The ASE model suggests that two key factors contribute to the sustained engagement and success of STEM women: (1) developing and integrating a STEM identity into one’s self-concept (i.e., into one’s gender identity for women), and (2) being able to access and utilize academic, social, and psychological coping resources throughout college. Across two-NSF funded empirical research grants, we conducted a comprehensive six-year longitudinal, timecourse or experience sampling study of STEM women. We followed over 400 undergraduate students at the pre-college through graduate school level in order to systematically identify the stages at which distinct challenges arise and targeted interventions are needed. We extended our work by following over 600 graduate students through the beginning stages of their graduate education to determine what processes that we identified in the undergraduate years might continue to be critical for sustained investment in STEM at later career stages. Our findings have been reported in numerous empirical journals, in special journal issues on institutional practices and on STEM education, in journals Our findings show that STEM women who have a stronger and well-integrated STEM identity and greater coping resources have a greater sense of belonging in STEM fields, feel less insecure and more motivated in the pursuit of their STEM career, and are less likely to consider dropping out of their STEM field, despite exposure to "chilly" STEM environments (e.g., London et al., 2014; London, Rosenthal, & Gonzalez, 2011; London, Rosenthal, Levy, & Lobel, 2011; Rosenthal, London, Levy, & Lobel, 2011; Rosenthal, London, Levy, Lobel, & Herrera-Alcazar, 2011). For example, during students’ first year in college, their perceived compatibility between their gender and their STEM field (Perceived Identity Compatibility (PIC), which is a critical element used to assess how well they are integrating their STEM identity into their self-concept), along with the social support they receive from close others (as one of the most critical coping resources), predicts women’s sense of belonging and motivation in their STEM fields, their academic insecurities, and whether they will consider dropping out of their STEM field. When women report having academic difficulty in their STEM courses, their level of perceived identity compatibility and support buffer them against negative outcomes (e.g., dropping out), as early as their first semester in college (e.g., London, Rosenthal, Levy, & Lobel, 2011; Rosenthal, London, Levy, & Lobel, 2011; Rosenthal, London, Levy, Lobel, & Herrera-Alcazar, 2011). Our findings also suggest that, during the first two years of college, student’s identities are in flux, and that these fluctuations can be detrimental to STEM students. For example, Ahlqvist, London, & Rosenthal (2013) showed that fluctuations (i.e., ups and downs) in perceived identity compatibility among women during the first year in college not only predicted lower psychosocial outcomes (e.g., sense of belonging and motivation in STEM), but also objective outcomes (i.e., lower grades in STEM courses during the second year of college). Students with more stable perceived identity compatibility showed sustained motivation, sense of belonging, and higher STEM grades than those with fluctuating identities. Our longitudinal data provides a comprehensive, longitudinal analysis of STEM engagement processes. Our data analyses are ongoing as we continue to explore broader patterns of academic and social engagement among our large, diverse sample of female and male STEM students over a six year period, from first year college students through graduate training.
