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Cited by 64Career Development and DiversityEducation, Achievement, and GiftednessHigher Education Research Studies

The Role of Social and Ability Belonging in Men’s and Women’s pSTEM Persistence

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Banchefsky, Sarah, Lewis, Karyn L., Ito, Tiffany A.·2019·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386PMC PMC6834781
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Abstract

The benefits of belonging for academic performance and persistence have been examined primarily in terms of subjective perceptions of social belonging, but feeling ability belonging, or fit with one's peers intellectually, is likely also important for academic success. This may particularly be the case in male-dominated fields, where inherent genius and natural talent are viewed as prerequisites for success. We tested the hypothesis that social and ability belonging each explain intentions to persist in physical science, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM). We further explore whether women experience lower social and ability belonging than men on average in pSTEM and whether belonging more strongly relates to intentions to persist for women. At three time points throughout a semester, we assessed undergraduate pSTEM majors enrolled in a foundational calculus or physics course. Women reported lower pSTEM ability belonging and self-efficacy than men but higher identification with pSTEM. End-of-semester social belonging, ability belonging, and identification predicted intentions to persist in pSTEM, with a stronger relationship between social belonging and intentions to persist in pSTEM for women than men. These findings held after controlling for prior and current academic performance, as well as two conventional psychological predictors of academic success.

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  • Banchefsky et al.'s (2019) results suggested that there was a stronger relationship between social belonging and intentions to persist in STEM for women than men.

    “Banchefsky et al.'s (2019) results suggested that there was a stronger relationship between social belonging and intentions to persist in STEM for women than men.”

    From The Importance of STEM Sense of Belonging and Academic Hope in Enhancing Persistence for Low-Income, Underrepresented STEM Students (2024) · cites this paper as Banchefsky et al. (2019)

    The Results (Hypothesis 3) report that the relationship between end-of-semester social belonging and intentions to persist was significantly stronger for women than men. The study examined undergraduate majors in physical science, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM), so the citing sentence’s broader reference to STEM is not fully supported. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
Banchefsky, S., Lewis, K. L., & Ito, T. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • Northwest Evaluation Association (US)
Corresponding author
Banchefsky, Sarah
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2019-10-31
Volume
10
Pages
2386-2386
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02386
PMC
PMC6834781
OpenAlex
W2984375642
Cited by
64
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 1
FWCI
5.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CU Scholar (University of Colorado Boulder) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • University of Colorado Boulder
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Career Development and Diversity
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
  • Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
Keywords
social belonging, gender differences, women in STEM, academic self-efficacy, male-dominated fields

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