Abstract
AbstractStudents from groups historically excluded from STEM face heightened challenges to thriving and advancing in STEM. Prompting students to reflect on these challenges in light of their purpose can yield benefits by helping students see how their STEM work connects to fundamental motives. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to test potential benefits of reflecting on purpose—their “why” for pursuing their degrees. This multimethod study included 466 STEM students (232 women; 237 Black/Latinx/Native students). Participants wrote about their challenges in STEM, with half randomly assigned to consider these in light of their purpose. Purpose reflection fostered benefits to beliefs and attitudes about the major, authentic belonging, and stress appraisals. Effects were robust across race and gender identities or larger for minoritized students. Structural and cultural shifts to recognize students’ purpose in STEM can provide a clearer pathway for students to advance.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference39 articles.
1. National Science Board, National Science Foundation. National Science Board, National Science Foundation. 2022. Higher Education in Science and Engineering. Science and Engineering Indicators 2022. NSB-2022-3. Alexandria, VA. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20223/. (2022).
2. Cheryan, S. & Markus, H. R. Masculine defaults: Identifying and mitigating hidden cultural biases. Psychol. Rev. 127, 1022–1052. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000209 (2020).
3. Leeming, J. The path to purpose: Early-career researchers should persevere to find meaning in their work. Nature 556, 139–141 (2018).
4. Diekman, A. B., Joshi, M. P. & Benson-Greenwald, T. M. Goal congruity theory: Navigating the social structure to fulfill goals. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Vol. 62 (ed. Gawronski, B.) 189–244 (Academic Press, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2020.04.003.
5. Diekman, A. B., Steinberg, M., Brown, E. R., Belanger, A. L. & Clark, E. K. A goal congruity model of role entry, engagement, and exit: Understanding communal goal processes in STEM gender gaps. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 21, 142–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868316642141 (2017).
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献