Abstract
Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Evidence suggests the microclimate of the classroom is an important factor influencing female course grades and interest, which encourages retention of women in STEM fields. Here, we test whether the gender composition of small (8±9 person) learning groups impacts course performance, sense of social belonging, and intragroup peer evaluations of intellectual contributions. Across two undergraduate active learning courses in introductory biology, we manipulated the classroom microclimate by varying the gender ratios of learning groups, ranging from 0% female to 100% female. We found that as the percent of women in groups increased, so did overall course performance for all students, regardless of gender. Additionally, women assigned higher peer- evaluations in groups with more women than groups with less women. Our work demonstrates an added benefit of the retention of women in STEM: Increased performance for all, and positive peer perceptions for women.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0195129 |
| Journal | PloS one |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2018 |
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PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Cite this
Small group gender ratios impact biology class performance and peer evaluations. / Sullivan, Lauren L; Ballen, Cissy; Cotner, Sehoya H.
In: PloS one, Vol. 13, No. 4, e0195129, 01.04.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Small group gender ratios impact biology class performance and peer evaluations
AU - Sullivan, Lauren L
AU - Ballen, Cissy
AU - Cotner, Sehoya H
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Evidence suggests the microclimate of the classroom is an important factor influencing female course grades and interest, which encourages retention of women in STEM fields. Here, we test whether the gender composition of small (8±9 person) learning groups impacts course performance, sense of social belonging, and intragroup peer evaluations of intellectual contributions. Across two undergraduate active learning courses in introductory biology, we manipulated the classroom microclimate by varying the gender ratios of learning groups, ranging from 0% female to 100% female. We found that as the percent of women in groups increased, so did overall course performance for all students, regardless of gender. Additionally, women assigned higher peer- evaluations in groups with more women than groups with less women. Our work demonstrates an added benefit of the retention of women in STEM: Increased performance for all, and positive peer perceptions for women.
AB - Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Evidence suggests the microclimate of the classroom is an important factor influencing female course grades and interest, which encourages retention of women in STEM fields. Here, we test whether the gender composition of small (8±9 person) learning groups impacts course performance, sense of social belonging, and intragroup peer evaluations of intellectual contributions. Across two undergraduate active learning courses in introductory biology, we manipulated the classroom microclimate by varying the gender ratios of learning groups, ranging from 0% female to 100% female. We found that as the percent of women in groups increased, so did overall course performance for all students, regardless of gender. Additionally, women assigned higher peer- evaluations in groups with more women than groups with less women. Our work demonstrates an added benefit of the retention of women in STEM: Increased performance for all, and positive peer perceptions for women.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045001268&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85045001268&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0195129
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0195129
M3 - Article
VL - 13
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 4
M1 - e0195129
ER -