PERC 2021 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Gender effects in perceived recognition as a physicist and physics identity |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated gender differences in perceived recognition as a physicist and its relation to physics identity. We surveyed 688 students (228 women, 460 men) at a research-intensive university in [country redacted for review] at both the junior and senior undergraduate levels with items measuring perceived recognition and physics identity. Similar to other studies, we find that female physics students report lower recognition as a physicist from their instructors, families and friends compared to male students. In contrast, there were no gender differences in students' perceptions of friends asking them for their advice/input in physics related problems. Perceived recognition from instructors was lower than recognition from family and friends for both male and female students. We find that both perceived recognition from instructors and physics identity are significantly lower at the senior compared with the junior levels. Multiple linear regressions for male and female students individually found that both perceived recognition from instructors and from family/friends predicted students' physics identity. However, the perception that their friends sought their advice on physics-related problems predicted physics identity only for female students, not for male students. These results may indicate a shift in students' understanding of what it means to be a physicist as they progress through the degree program, and that female students may have a wider range of sources feeding into their physics identity formation. The results point to further research being needed to understand better the mechanism by which students form perceptions of instructors seeing them as physics people. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
| Session Time: | Poster Session 1 Room D |
| Poster Number: | 1D-3 |
| Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
| Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Ewan Bottomley University of St. Andrews Dundee, Non U.S. DD1 3ET Phone: 07704303245 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Kenneth I. Mavor (School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews). Paula J. Miles (School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews). Antje Kohnle (School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews). Vivienne Wild (School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews). |
