Exploring Belongingness in Undergraduate Science Students: The Intersectionality of Self-identified Minority Status and Gender (66237)
Session Chair: Catherine Mooney
Saturday, January 7, 2023 (15:50)
Session: Session 5
Room: 321B
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
Sense of Belonging' or 'belongingness' is a belief or feeling that one is an accepted and valued member of a community. Belongingness can vary with factors such as gender, and race/ethnicity. Belongingness has been shown to be correlated with student characteristics such as motivation and persistence. We adapted the "Math Sense of Belonging Scale" to investigate the relationship between undergraduate science students’ sense of belonging, gender identity, and self-declared minority status. We surveyed approximately 2,000 undergraduate students across the seven schools in the UCD College of Science (School of Mathematics and Statistics, Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, Physics, Biology and Environmental Science, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, and Computer Science) from December 2021 to January 2022.We did not find a statistically significant difference in the belongingness of students identifying as women or men. However, we did observe a statistically significantly lower sense of belonging in students who self-identified as being women or men, and part of a minority group. Students who identified as women who did not identify as belonging to a minority had a sense of belonging comparable to students who identified as men who did not identify as belonging to a minority. Creating inclusive learning environments for all students is of primary importance. Results of this study have provided us with insight that may help us improve the belongingness of our undergraduate students, particularly students of any gender who identify as belonging to a minority in science.
Authors:
Catherine Mooney, University College Dublin, Ireland
Shamima Nasrin Runa, University College Dublin, Ireland
Anna Antoniadi, University College Dublin, Ireland
Brett Becker, University College Dublin, Ireland
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Catherine Mooney is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at University College Dublin in Ireland
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