Project description:Women are sparsely represented in leadership in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Cultural stereotypes about men, women, and leaders influence the attitudes, judgments, and decisions that others make about women and the choices women make for themselves. Multilevel interventions are needed to counteract the impact of these pervasive and easily activated stereotypes, which conspire in multiple ways to constrain women's entry, persistence, and advancement in academic STEMM. We describe an individual-level educational intervention. Using the transtheoretical model of behavioral change as a framework, we assessed the success of a semester course on increasing women's leadership self-efficacy for the first three cohorts of course participants (n = 30). Pre/post questionnaires showed gains in leadership self-efficacy, personal mastery, and self-esteem, and decreases in perceived constraints. Qualitative text analysis of weekly journals indicated increasing leadership self-efficacy as course participants applied course information and integrated strategies to mitigate the impact of societal stereotypes into their own leadership practices. Follow-up queries of the first two cohorts supported the enduring value of course participation. We conclude that providing strategies to recognize and mitigate the impact of gender stereotypes is effective in increasing leadership self-efficacy in women at early stages of academic STEMM careers.
Project description:Periods of social mobility, such as attending college, can challenge one's status-based identity, leading to uncertainty around one's status in society. Status uncertainty is associated with poorer well-being and academic outcomes. Little is known, however, about what experiences lead to status uncertainty. The current longitudinal study investigated discrimination experiences and cultural mismatch as predictors of status uncertainty. We propose that discrimination indirectly predicts increased status uncertainty by increasing perceived cultural mismatch with the university. Participants were Latinx college students, all of whom were low-income and/or first generation to college. Discrimination experiences were measured at the end of participants' first year. Cultural mismatch and status uncertainty were measured at the end of Year 2. Status uncertainty was measured again at the end of Year 3. Results indicated that students who experienced more frequent discrimination felt more cultural mismatch 1 year later, and, in turn, reported increased status uncertainty over the following year.
Project description:IntroductionThe under representation of women in STEM fields is a persistent issue worldwide. In China, although women have made significant progress in pursuing STEM degrees in recent years, they continue to face challenges in the workforce. Given the importance of the self-perceived employability (SPE) of female STEM students in China, the research questions are: How do curriculum experience, extracurricular experience, and faculty supportive activities affect the SPE of female STEM students in Chinese universities? To what extent does university stratification affect the relationship between college experience and female STEM students' SPE?MethodsWe analyzed the 2018 data of the Chinese College Student Survey (CCSS) consisting of a sample of 59,066 students, and six focus group interviews.ResultsThe findings suggest that curriculum experience, extracurricular experience and faculty supportive activities have a positive impact on the SPE of female students, but the gender gap in SPE is still valid as reflected by the fact that women have lower SPE than men in each tier of universities and that men benefit more in terms of the increase in SPE from most types of college activities and support except academic ones.DiscussionThis study reveals that the different tiers of universities in China affect female students' SPE in different ways, and provides valuable evidence for academic as well as university administrators and policymakers regarding how college experience affect women and how university stratification can affect female students' college experience and their career expectations and paths.
Project description:"Bee the CURE" is a Power-of-Place course-based undergraduate research experience (PoP-CUREs; Jaeger et al., 2024) that combines place-based education (Demarest, 2014; Gruenewald, 2014) with CUREs, emphasizing student scientific civic engagement where research is relevant to the community where the research is taking place. PoP-CUREs have potential to build students' knowledge, skills, value, and self-efficacy when engaging with the public using science skills (i.e., scientific civic engagement). A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design utilizing surveys and semistructured interviews was used for this study (Warfa, 2016). Students made gains in science self-efficacy over the course of the semester and showed a trend of increasing science identity in both Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. Students' scientific civic knowledge, or a student's sense of how to use or apply knowledge and skills to help a community, increased significantly, while other predictors of scientific civic engagement started high and remained high throughout the course. Bee the CURE demonstrates psychosocial outcomes that are similar to previously studied CUREs and expands our understanding of how PoP-CUREs might influence outcomes with evidence that an important predictor of future scientific civic engagement increases. Implications for PoP-CURE instruction at Hispanic serving community colleges are discussed.
Project description:Approximately 4 μg of DNA was isolated from blood of each of 16 subjects using the Qiagen DNEasy Blood and Tissue Kit. Of the 16 samples, 8 were from group 1 (CESD-H/TST-H; 5 female, 3 male) and 8 were from group 2 (CESD-H/TST-L; 5 female, 3 male). All DNA samples were confirmed to be of high purity (A260/280: 1.7-2.0). Pooled samples were prepared for each group by combining approximately 75 ng of DNA from each of the eight subjects. These two samples were submitted to the Yale Genomics Core for epigenome-wide methylation profiling using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip, which measures the level of methylation β (a value ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 represents a completely unmethylated site and 1 a completely methylated site) at each of the 485,577 CpG sites on the array. Illumina’s GenomeStudio software was used to calculate the degree of differential methylation by group for each CpG site on the array, and FDR-adjusted p-values (Q-values) were calculated for each site in order to adjust for multiple comparisons. CESD=depression score; TST=sleep score
Project description:Depression is one of the most prevalent and disabling mental health problems in college students. Previous studies have established cross-sectional associations between negative bias in prospection e.g., increased negativity in future simulation, low self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the temporal bidirectional associations between them are rarely examined. In the current study, we collected valid data on 276 college students at two time points within a 10 week interval. Cross-lagged panel analysis was applied to investigate the relationships between proportions of negative future events, levels of self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Results suggested depressive symptoms predict subsequent proportions of negative prospections and levels of self-efficacy. Inversely, neither prospection nor self-efficacy predicted depression. Temporal correlations between prospection and self-efficacy were also not significant. Since this is one of the first studies that attempts to figure out temporal links between these mutually informing factors, more longitudinal research is needed to draw a firm conclusion. This study provides new insights into the relationship between negative biases in cognitions and depressive symptoms and highlights the need to intervene early with depressive symptoms before any possible cognitive distortions in college students.
Project description:IntroductionDespite the return of college students to campus in the post-pandemic era, the deep influence of COVID-19 on learning approaches persists. Existing research has explored fewer mechanisms underlying academic self-efficacy and learning engagement. In line with social cognitive theory, the psychological resilience framework, and vocational socialization theory, this research investigated academic self-efficacy, professional commitment, psychological resilience, and academic engagement among college students in the post-pandemic era. In this research, the focus was on understanding the impact of academic self-efficacy on learning engagement, taking into account gender as a moderator and psychological resilience and professional commitment as mediators.MethodsWe conducted a survey with 1,032 college students in Henan Province, China, utilizing the Psychological Resilience Scale, Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, College Student Learning Engagement Questionnaire, and College Student Professional Commitment Scale. SPSS and the Process plugin were used to assess mediating and moderating effects.ResultsAcademic self-efficacy significantly and positively correlates with college students' commitment to learning. The positive anticipation of learning engagement facilitated by academic self-efficacy exerts its effect through the fully parallel mediation of psychological resilience and professional commitment. Notably, the mediation effect of professional commitment was greater than that of psychological resilience. Further research found that the mediation of professional commitment was moderated by gender, with female students demonstrating stronger perceptions of professional commitment associated with elevated levels of learning engagement. Gender did not exhibit a significant moderating effect on psychological resilience.ConclusionCollege students' academic self-efficacy, professional commitment, and psychological resilience must be addressed to enhance their learning engagement.