Exploring the Effect of Shared Identities Between Instructors and Students in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom

该项目旨在通过使STEM课堂和学科更欢迎所有学生来服务于国家利益。来自边缘化群体的个人往往感到在STEM中不受欢迎和无人代表。与同龄人相比，遇到这种感觉的学生在STEM专业坚持的可能性更小。身份边缘化的教师会对身份相同的学生产生积极影响。然而，目前还不清楚被边缘化的学生在多大程度上了解或了解与他们身份相同的导师，以及这种知识是否会影响学生的大学经历。本项目旨在评估生物教师分享他们的LGBTQ+身份对学生的影响，包括对LGBTQ+学生在生物课堂和大学STEM社区的归属感的影响。这些知识可能有助于确定提高本科生在STEM中的归属感和能力的策略，从而支持来自不同边缘群体的学生取得更大成功。带有负面成见的边缘化污名化身份可能是看不见的，因为携带这些身份的人必须选择揭露它们。目前，还不清楚一名教师分享一个看不见的污名身份会如何影响那些拥有和不拥有这种身份的学生。该项目团队在解决STEM教育中的多样性和同一性问题方面有着领先的成功项目的良好记录。在这个项目中，研究人员将使用深度访谈和全国性调查来检查教师与学生分享他们的LGBTQ+身份的程度。该项目已经招募了相当数量的志愿者参加采访。通过使用看不见的污名化身份的框架，该项目团队希望确定影响教师决定与学生分享边缘化身份的因素。此外，通过一项准实验研究，该项目打算探索当教师简短地提到他们的LGBTQ+身份时的影响。该项目将考察对所有学生的总体影响和对具有这种身份认同的学生的具体影响，重点是学生的归属感、科学认同感和科学自我效能感。这些结果已被确定为学生坚持科学的重要预测指标。项目团队还将研究教师对其LGBTQ+身份的共享如何影响学生对教师亲和力、能力和关联性的看法。制定了强有力的数据管理计划，以确保数据安全和隐私。虽然这项工作的重点是生物学，但其努力的结果很可能适用于其他STEM学科。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by making STEM classrooms and disciplines more welcoming to all students. Individuals from marginalized groups often feel unwelcome and unrepresented in STEM. Students who encounter such feelings are less likely to persist in STEM majors than their peers. Instructors with a marginalized identity can positively impact students who share the same identity. However, it is unclear to what extent marginalized students know or know of instructors who share their identity, and whether this knowledge affects students’ college experiences. This project intends to assess impacts on students when biology instructors’ share their LGBTQ+ identities, including impacts on LGBTQ+ students’ sense of belonging in biology classrooms and college STEM communities. This knowledge may help to identify strategies that improve undergraduate students’ sense of belonging and capability in STEM, thus supporting greater success of students from diverse marginalized groups. Marginalized stigmatized identities that carry negative stereotypes can be invisible because a person who carries these identifies must choose to reveal them. Currently, it is unclear how an instructor’s sharing of an invisible stigmatized identity may impact students both who do and do not share that identity. The project team has a strong record of leading successful projects that address issues of diversity and identity in STEM education. In this project, the researchers will use in-depth interviews and a national survey to examine the extent to which instructors share their LGBTQ+ identities with their students. The project has already recruited a substantial number of volunteers to participate in the interviews. Using the framework of invisible stigmatized identities, the project team hopes to identify factors that influence an instructor’s decision to share a marginalized identity with their students. Additionally, through a quasi-experimental study, the project intends to explore the impacts when instructors briefly mention their LGBTQ+ identity. The project will examine the general impacts on all students and specific impacts on those students who share this identity, with a focus on students' sense of belonging, science identity, and self-efficacy in science. These outcomes have been established as important predictors of students’ persistence in science. The project team will also examine how instructors’ sharing of their LGBTQ+ identity affects students’ perception of instructor likeability, competence, and relatability. A strong data management plan is in place to ensure data security and privacy. Although this work will focus on biology, the results of its efforts will likely be applicable in other STEM disciplines. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.