Gormally Cara, Inghram Rachel
School 4: School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC 20002.
School 1, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC 20002.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2021 Jan 29;22(1). doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2273. eCollection 2021.
For undergraduate students, feeling an affinity with a science community is a key factor related to interest and persistence in science. Thus, how students perceive scientists can affect their sense of belonging. In this study, we interviewed biology majors and nonscience majors at two institutions, including students who were hearing and deaf, to understand their perceptions of scientists. We used a mixed-methods analytic approach, including coding to classify responses and box plots, to evaluate how endorsement of both positive and negative stereotypes and desire for science to afford altruistic, communal opportunities may differ between student populations. Groups studied include women and men students; biology majors and nonscience majors; hearing and deaf students; and introductory and advanced biology majors. Findings indicate that opportunities to see altruistic and communal qualities of science may be important for women, nonscience majors, and deaf students. Interestingly, the majority of students did not assign gender to an imagined scientist. Implications for challenging stereotypes about scientists and making altruistic and communal opportunities in science more visible are discussed.
对于本科生而言，对科学群体产生亲近感是与对科学的兴趣和坚持相关的一个关键因素。因此，学生如何看待科学家会影响他们的归属感。在本研究中，我们在两所院校采访了生物学专业和非科学专业的学生，包括听力正常和失聪的学生，以了解他们对科学家的看法。我们采用了混合方法分析途径，包括编码以对回答进行分类以及箱线图，来评估对正面和负面刻板印象的认同以及对科学提供利他、公共机会的渴望在不同学生群体中可能存在的差异。所研究的群体包括男女学生；生物学专业和非科学专业学生；听力正常和失聪的学生；以及基础生物学专业和进阶生物学专业的学生。研究结果表明，看到科学的利他和公共特质的机会对女性、非科学专业学生和失聪学生可能很重要。有趣的是，大多数学生没有给想象中的科学家赋予性别。文中讨论了挑战关于科学家的刻板印象以及使科学中的利他和公共机会更明显的意义。
