Abstract
Past laboratory work has shown that exposure to similar peers who represent success in STEM (i.e., math-talented female peer role models) can bolster female college students’ math performance and STEM experiences. What is less clear is how students at intersecting identities of gender, ethnicity, and math identification differ in their similarity perceptions of female peer role models (PRMs) as well as how the PRMs’ ethnicity and background information (i.e., academic-related and personal-related) influences students’ similarity perceptions. In the current work, Latina and White female PRMs gave two presentations in college Calculus classes over the course of one semester. After the second presentation students completed quantitative and qualitative measures to assess perceived similarity with the PRMs. Across both measures results showed that (1) students generally perceived themselves to be similar to PRMs, (2) students felt more academically than personally similar to PRMs, (3) when the PRMs’ ethnicity matched the students’ ethnicity the academic-personal similarity difference was smaller, and (4) depending on students’ gender and level of math identification their similarity perceptions differed. Given PRM similarity has been shown to be a significant factor in the effectiveness of PRMs these findings emphasize the importance of considering students’ intersecting identities and PRM background information when attempting to highlight similarity with PRMs.
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Notes
We use the label female “peer” to describe all peers rather than “peer role model (PRM)” because only the peers who are perceived to be competent in the domain of relevance can be PRMs.
We did not include male PRMs because there was a finite number of math classes at our university and instructors’ time was limited; hence, we would be unable to conduct a “balanced” study design with the number of math class available without also increasing the number of PRMs and the PRM presentations.
We examined whether competence and intimidation perceptions differed between the five individual PRMs. There were no reliable differences, suggesting that students perceived all PRMs about equally on competence and intimidation.
There was a student ethnicity by math identification interaction, F(1, 358) = 4.75, p < .05. Simple effects tests revealed that among students who were low on math identification (i.e., 1 SD below the mean on math identification) White and ethnic minority students did not reliably differ in intimidation, F(1, 358) = .85, p = .36. In contrast, among students who were high on math identification (i.e., 1 SD above the mean on math identification) White students (M = 1.95) were less intimidated by the PRMs than ethnic minority students (M = 2.38), F(1, 358) = 4.45, p < .05. There was also a reliable PRM ethnicity by math identification interaction, F(1, 358) = 11.63, p < .001. Closer examination showed that students low on math identification perceived the White and Latina PRMs as about equally (not) intimidating, F(1, 358) = 2.19, p = .14. Whereas students high on math identification perceived the Latino PRMs as less intimidating (M = 1.83) than the White PRMs (M = 2.49), F(1, 358) = 10.30, p < .05.
There was also a significant two-way interaction between student ethnicity and student gender, F(1, 358) = 6.35, p < .05, showing that among ethnic minority students, female students were somewhat more intimidated by the PRMs (M = 2.49) than male students (M = 2.11), F(1, 358) = 3.42, p < .07, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for White students, F(1, 358) = 2.92, p = .09. A higher order three-way interaction involving PRM ethnicity, F(1, 358) = 4.88, p < .05 shows a more complex story. Among White students the gender difference in intimidation perception was about equal regardless of PRM ethnicity, F(1, 358) = .05, p = .86 whereas among ethnic minority students the gender difference differed by PRM ethnicity, F(1,358) = 8.29, p < .001. Specifically, female minority students were significantly more intimidated by the White PRMs (M = 2.92) than male minority students (M = 1.96), F(1, 358) = 9.36, p < .01. There was no gender difference among ethnic minority students in their intimidation perception of the Latina PRMs, F(1, 358) = .64, p = .42.
Finally, there was a marginal 3-way interaction involving math identification by student ethnicity by student gender, F(1, 358) = 3.65, p < .06. Simple effects tests showed that the student ethnicity by gender effect was significant among students who were high on math identification, F(1, 358) = 9.49 p < .01, but not among students who were low on math identification, F < 1.00.
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The authors would like to thank the research assistants of the STEPP Lab at SDSU, and the SDSU Department of Mathematics & Statistics. This article is dedicated to Bella.
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Marx, D.M., Ko, S.J. & da Rosa, V.A. “Are they like me?”: Assessing college math students’ academic and personal similarity perceptions of female peer role models. Soc Psychol Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-024-09894-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-024-09894-3