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ERIC Number: EJ1325340
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Mar
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4308
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Constructing STEM Identity: An Expanded Structural Model for STEM Identity Research
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v59 n3 p458-490 Mar 2022
Identity development frameworks provide insight into why and to what extent individuals engage in STEM-related activities. While studies of "STEM identity" often build off previously validated disciplinary and/or science identity frameworks, quantitative analyses of constructs that specifically measure STEM identity and its antecedents are scarce, making it challenging for researchers or practitioners to apply a measurement-based perspective of participation in opportunities billed as "STEM." In this study, we tested two expanded structural equation models of STEM identity development, building off extensions of science and disciplinary-identity frameworks, that incorporated additional factors relevant to identity development: gender, ethnicity, home science support, parental education, and experiencing science talk in the home. Our models test theorized relationships between interest, sense of recognition, performance-competence, and identity in the context of STEM with undergraduate students (N = 522) enrolled in introductory STEM courses at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Our findings support our measurement of STEM identity and its indicators, providing researchers with a predictive model associated with academic intentions across disciplinary domains in STEM. Further, our expanded model (i.e., Model I+) indicates significant contributions of participant gender, which has a larger indirect effect on STEM identity ([beta] = 0.50) than the direct effect of STEM interest ([beta] = 0.29), and of home support in relation to performance-competence in academic contexts. Our model also posits a significant contribution of family science talk to sense of recognition as a STEM person, expanding our understandings of the important role of the home environment while challenging prior conceptions of science capital and habitus. We situate our results within a broader discussion regarding the validity of "STEM identity" as a concept and construct in the context of communities often marginalized in STEM fields.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A