Identity, Self-Esteem, and Academic Motivation: An Analysis of Effects on Underrepresented STEM Majors

José Carlos Villalobos; Uday K. Nair; Lisa Massi; Rachel Straney

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Conference: 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Tampa, Florida
Publication Date: June 15, 2019
Start Date: June 15, 2019
End Date: June 19, 2019
Conference Session: Minorities in Engineering Division Technical Session 3
Tagged Division: Minorities in Engineering
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 28
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--32916
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/32916
Download Count: 713

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Paper Authors

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José Carlos Villalobos University of Central Florida

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Jose Villalobos is currently a student at the University of Central Florida studying for a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and a minor in Statistics. After graduation, he intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics or Statistics.

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Uday K. Nair University of Central Florida

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Mr. Uday Nair is the Associate Director of the Assessment office at the University of Central Florida. His professional portfolio includes institutional effectiveness/assessment, grant evaluation, analytics related to student success, and system design. His passion is analyzing institutional data related to student academic factors, psycho-social factors collected using surveys, and demographics to uncover factors impacting student success that could be used in strategic decision making. Some of the current projects have an objective of finding differences among the FTIC and Transfer student population at UCF with respect to student success and engagement metrics, factors impacting retention, graduation and time to graduation. Mr. Nair holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (1997) and couple of graduate degrees - Masters in Industrial Engineering (2001) and Business Administration (2012) from the University of Central Florida. Currently he is working on getting his Doctorate in Education - Measurement, Methodology, and Analysis track.

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Lisa Massi University of Central Florida

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Dr. Lisa Massi is the Accreditation and Program Approval Specialist II for the College of Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. She has been Co-PI of two NSF-funded S-STEM programs and program evaluator for three NSF-funded REU programs. Her research interests include factors that impact student persistence, professional identity development, and cultural identity in the STEM fields.

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Rachel Straney University of Central Florida

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Rachel Straney is an Applications Systems Analyst/Programmer in the office of Operational Excellence and Assessment Support at the University of Central Florida. Her main responsibilities include the administration, collection, and reporting of student surveys. She also serves as a statistician to conduct assessments and evaluations which support decision making for university operations and student learning. She earned both of her degrees, a Bachelors in Statistics and a Masters in Statistical Computing, from the University of Central Florida.

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Abstract

This study seeks to understand whether race and gender identities influence commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) majors. The research was conducted at the University of Central Florida. The participants in this study are undergraduate students in the Career Advancement Mentoring Program for Young Entrepreneurs and Scholars (CAMP-YES) Program. All students were invited to participate in an online survey study. Out of the 124 students, 32 participated in the study yielding a response rate of 25.8%, and 27 with complete responses. The survey was comprised of three constructs adapted from previously validated surveys measuring a) social identity on the Social Identity and Personal Identity Scale (SIPI) [1]; b) types of motivation on the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) [2]; and c) temporal fluctuations in self-esteem on the State Self Esteem Scale (SSES) [3]. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test on nine scales with three demographics comparing ethnicity (majority vs. underrepresented minorities), gender (male vs. female), and first-in-family to pursue a bachelor’s degree (first generation vs. non-first generation). Preliminary results suggest that female students’ motivation for four sub-constructs on the AMS were significantly higher their male counterparts. Female (Median=4.38 s=.55) motivation to accomplish things was significantly higher (p=.016) than male (Median=3.25 s=.93). Female (Median=3.63 s=.69) motivation from stimulating experiences was significantly higher (p=.029) than male (Median=2.75 s=1.02). Female (Median=4.75 s=.68) motivation for internalizing reasons for actions was significantly higher (p=.022) than male (Median=3.75 s=.82). Female (Median=4.38 s=.62) motivation for valuing a behavior was significantly higher (p=.039) than male (M=3.5 s=.98). On the SIPI scale, preliminary results suggest that underrepresented students (Median=3.38 s=.54) had significantly higher (p=.007) social identity than the majority (Median=2.69 s=.78). No significant results were found for total SSES or social self-esteem tested by any of the three demographics. The findings from this study contribute to the understanding of how the cultural self may promote or hinder participation and progression in STEM for undergraduate students in group settings.

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Format

Villalobos, J. C., & Nair, U. K., & Massi, L., & Straney, R. (2019, June), Identity, Self-Esteem, and Academic Motivation: An Analysis of Effects on Underrepresented STEM Majors Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32916

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This study seeks to understand whether race and gender identities influence commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) majors. The research was conducted at the University of Central Florida. The participants in this study are undergraduate students in the Career Advancement Mentoring Program for Young Entrepreneurs and Scholars (CAMP-YES) Program. All students were invited to participate in an online survey study. Out of the 124 students, 32 participated in the study yielding a response rate of 25.8%, and 27 with complete responses. The survey was comprised of three constructs adapted from previously validated surveys measuring a) social identity on the Social Identity and Personal Identity Scale (SIPI) [1]; b) types of motivation on the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) [2]; and c) temporal fluctuations in self-esteem on the State Self Esteem Scale (SSES) [3]. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test on nine scales with three demographics comparing ethnicity (majority vs. underrepresented minorities), gender (male vs. female), and first-in-family to pursue a bachelor’s degree (first generation vs. non-first generation). Preliminary results suggest that female students’ motivation for four sub-constructs on the AMS were significantly higher their male counterparts. Female (Median=4.38 s=.55) motivation to accomplish things was significantly higher (p=.016) than male (Median=3.25 s=.93). Female (Median=3.63 s=.69) motivation from stimulating experiences was significantly higher (p=.029) than male (Median=2.75 s=1.02). Female (Median=4.75 s=.68) motivation for internalizing reasons for actions was significantly higher (p=.022) than male (Median=3.75 s=.82). Female (Median=4.38 s=.62) motivation for valuing a behavior was significantly higher (p=.039) than male (M=3.5 s=.98). On the SIPI scale, preliminary results suggest that underrepresented students (Median=3.38 s=.54) had significantly higher (p=.007) social identity than the majority (Median=2.69 s=.78). No significant results were found for total SSES or social self-esteem tested by any of the three demographics. The findings from this study contribute to the understanding of how the cultural self may promote or hinder participation and progression in STEM for undergraduate students in group settings.
AU  - José Carlos Villalobos
AU  - Uday K. Nair
AU  - Lisa Massi
AU  - Rachel Straney
CY  - Tampa, Florida
DA  - 2019/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Identity, Self-Esteem, and Academic Motivation: An Analysis of Effects on Underrepresented STEM Majors
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/32916
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--32916
ER  -