Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Recognition Matters: the Role of Informal Science Education Programs in Developing Girls’ Science Identity

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal for STEM Education Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Girls and women remain stubbornly underrepresented in certain science fields. This underrepresentation begins as early as late elementary school as girls begin to (dis)identify with science because they do not see themselves as potential scientists because they cannot recognize themselves as belonging (internal recognition) and/or others do not recognize them as scientists (external recognition). Informal science education (ISE) programs have shown some promise for improving girls’ recognition as it relates to science. However, evidence is mixed on the influence of these programs because there is no commonality in structure or goal for programs that are compared. Hence, we know how specific programs influence girls’ internal and external recognition, but we do not know how this could be successfully replicated. The SciGirls organization has developed a set of research-based gender-equitable strategies that guide their programs and activities to improve girls’ identification with science disciplines. To better understand the efficacy of these strategies on participating girls’ internal and external recognition, we conducted a linear regression to compare pre- to post- external and internal recognition responses. The SciGirls programs we investigated improved girls perceived external recognition; however, their own internal views of themselves as science people did not change significantly. The findings support the use of the SciGirls Strategies for building external recognition for girls, which is an important piece of science identity development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The authors use capital letters when referring to the survey categories and lower case when referring to general science identity, or recognition concepts.

References

  • Archer, L., DeWitt, J., Osborne, J., Dillon, J., Willis, B., & Wong, B. (2012). Science aspirations, capital, and family habitus: How families shape children’s engagement and identification with science. American Educational Research Journal, 49(5), 881–908. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211433290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer, L., Dawson, E., DeWitt, J., Seakins, A., & Wong, B. (2015). “Science capital”: A conceptual, methodological, and empirical argument for extending bourdieusian notions of capital beyond the arts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(7), 922–948. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer, L., Moote, J., Francis, B., DeWitt, J., & Yeomans, L. (2017). The “exceptional” physics girl: A sociological analysis of multimethod data from young women aged 10–16 to explore gendered patterns of post-16 participation. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 88–126. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216678379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aschbacher, P. R., Li, E., & Roth, E. J. (2010). Is science me? High school students’ identities, participation and aspirations in science, engineering, and medicine. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(5), 564–582. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assessing Women in Engineering. (2008). Assessing women and men in engineering website. http://www.engr.psu.edu/awe/secured/director/precollege/pre_college.aspx. Accessed 5 Jan 2010. 

  • Avraamidou, L. (2019). “I am a young immigrant woman doing physics and on top of that I am Muslim”: Identities intersections and negotiations. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(3),311–341. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21593

  • Avraamidou, L. (2020). Science identity as a landscape of becoming: Rethinking recognition and emotions through an intersectionality lens. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 15(2), 323–345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09954-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billington, B., Britsch, B., Karl, R., Carter, S., Freese, J., & Regalla, L. (2014). SciGirls seven: How to engage girls in STEM. TPT National Publications.

  • Chan, H. Y., Choi, H., Hailu, M. F., Whitford, M., DeRouen, S. D. (2020). Participation in structured STEM-focused out-of-school time programs in secondary school: Linkage to postsecondary STEM aspiration and major. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57, 1250–1280. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21629

  • Calabrese Barton, A., Kang, H., Tan, E., O’Neill, T. B., Bautista-Guerra, J., & Brecklin, C. (2013). Crafting a future in science: Tracing middle school girls’ identity work over time and space. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 37–75. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831212458142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callero, P. L. (1985). Role-identity salience. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48(3), 203–215. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caraballo, L. (2019). Being “loud”: Identities-in-practice in a figured world of achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 56(4), 1281–1317. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218816059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlone, H. B., & Johnson, A. (2007). Understanding the science experiences of successful women of color: Science identity as an analytic lens. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(8), 1187–1218. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlone, H. B., Scott, C. M., & Lowder, C. (2014). Becoming (less) scientific: A longitudinal study of students’ identity work from elementary to middle school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(7), 836–869. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlone, H. B., Johnson, A., & Scott, C. M. (2015). Agency amidst formidable structures: How girls perform gender in science class. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(4), 474–488. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, A. C. K., & Slavin, R. E. (2016). How methodological features affect effect sizes in education. Educational Researcher, 45(5), 283–292. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16656615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, K.H. (2018). Confronting color-blind STEM talent development: Toward a contextual model for Black student STEM identity. Journal of Advanced Academics, 29(2), 143–168.

  • Conrad, J., Polly, D., Binns, I., & Algozzine, B. (2018). Student perceptions of a summer robotics camp experience. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(3), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2018.1436819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, E., Archer, L., Seakins, A., Godec, S., Dewitt, J., King, H., et al. (2019). Selfies at the science museum: Exploring girls’ identity performances in a science learning space. Gender and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2018.1557322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Djonko-Moore, C. M., Leonard, J., Holifield, Q., Bailey, E. B., & Almughyirah, S. M. (2018). Using culturally relevant experiential education to enhance urban children’s knowledge and engagement in science. Journal of Experiential Education, 41(2), 137–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825917742164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godwin, A., & Potvin, G. (2017). Pushing and pulling Sara: A case study of the contrasting influences of high school and university experiences on engineering agency, identity, and participation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54, 439–462. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21372

  • Hazari, Z., Brewe, E., Goertzen, R.-M., & Hodapp, T. (2017). The importance of high school physics teachers for female students’ physics identity and persistence. The Physics Teacher, 55, 96–99. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4974122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, D., Lachicotte Jr, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R., & Roberts, K. (2019). STEM identity growth in co-educational and single-sex STEM summer camps. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology, 11(2), 286–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R., Schellinger, J., & Roberts, K. (2021). The role of recognition in disciplinary identity for girls. Journal of Research on Science Teaching, 58(3), 420–455. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R., Schellinger, J., Billington, B., Britsch, B., & Santiago, A. (2020). A summary of effective gender equitable teaching practices in informal STEM education spaces. Journal of STEM Outreach, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v3i1.16

  • Ibourk, A., Hughes, R., & Mathis, C. (2022). “It is what it is”: Using storied-identity and intersectionality lenses to understand what shaped a young Black woman’s STEM identity trajectory. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ireland, D. T., Freeman, K. E., Winston-Proctor, C. E., DeLaine, K. D., McDonald Lowe, S., & Woodson, K. M. (2018). (Un)hidden figures: A synthesis of research examining the intersectional experiences of black women and girls in STEM education. Review of Research in Education, 42(1), 226–254. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18759072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A., Brown, J., Carlone, H., & Cuevas, A. (2011). Authoring identity amidst the treacherous terrain of science: A multiracial feminist examination of the journeys of three women of color in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(4), 339–366. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. C. (2019). Creating a world for me: Students of color navigating STEM identity. The Journal of Negro Education, 88(3), 358–378. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, A. Y., Sinatra, G. M., & Seyranian, V. (2018). Developing a STEM identity among young women: A social identity perspective. Review of Educational Research, 88(4), 589–625. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318779957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, N. S., Pringle, R. M. (2019). Black girls speak STEM: Counterstories of informal and formal learning experiences. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(5), 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21513

  • Kitchen, J. A., Sonnert, G., Sadler P. M. (2018). The impact of college‐ and university‐run high school summer programs on students’ end of high school STEM career aspirations. Science Education, 102(3), 529–547. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21332

  • Kraft, M. A. (2020). Interpreting effect sizes of education interventions. Educational Researcher, 49(4), 241–253.

  • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355

  • Lock, R. M., & Hazari, Z. (2016). Discussing underrepresentation as a means to facilitating female students’ physics identity development. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 12(2), 020101. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.020101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Master, A., Cheryan, S., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2016). Computing whether she belongs: Stereotypes undermine girls' interest and sense of belonging in computer science. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 424. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000061

  • McCreedy, D., & Dierking, L. D. (2013). Cascading influences: Long-term impacts of informal STEM experiences for girls (p. 48). The Franklin Institute. Accessed December 15, 2013 from https://www.fi.edu/sites/default/files/cascading-influences.pdf

  • National Research Council. (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. The National Academies Press. Accessed October 10, 2009 from http://library.uc.edu.kh/userfiles/pdf/11.Learning%20science%20in%20informal%20environments%20people%20places%20and%20pursuits.pdf

  • National Research Council. (2010). Standards for K-12 engineering education? Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/12990.

  • National Science Foundation. (2021). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2021 (NSF 21–321). National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. Accessed December 15, 2021 from https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21321/report/about-this-report

  • O’Brien, L. T., Hitti, A., Shaffer, E., Camp, A. R. V., Henry, D., & Gilbert, P. N. (2017). Improving girls’ sense of fit in science: Increasing the impact of role models. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(3), 301–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616671997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pattison, S., Gontan, I., Ramos-Montañez, S., Shagott, T., Francisco, M., & Dierking, L. (2020). The identity-frame model: A framework to describe situated identity negotiation for adolescent youth participating in an informal engineering education program. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 29(4–5), 550–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2020.1770762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poirier, J. M., Tanenbaum, C., Storey, C., Kirschstein, R., & Rodriguez, C. (2009). The road to the STEM professoriate for underrepresented minorities: A review of the literature. American Institutes for Research, National Science Foundation, Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate. https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv:43998. Accessed 15 Nov 2009.

  • Roberts, K., & Hughes, R. (2019). The role of STEM self-efficacy on STEM identity for middle school girls after participation in a single-sex informal STEM education program. Journal of STEM Outreach, 2, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, S., Cunningham, K., & Jordan, A. (2019). STEM identity development for Latinas: The role of self- and outside recognition. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717739958

  • Ryu, M., Tuvilla, M. R. S., & Wright, C. E. (2019). Resettled Burmese Refugee Youths’ Identity Work in an Afterschool STEM Learning Setting. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33(1), 84–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2018.1531454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, J.A., Beymer, P.N., Rosenberg, J.M., Naftzger, N.N., & Shumow, L. (2020). Experiences, activities, and personal characteristics as predictors of engagement in STEM-focused summer programs. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57, 1281–1309.

  • Simpkins, S. D., Riggs, N. R., Ngo, B., Vest Ettekal, A., & Okamoto, D. (2017). Designing culturally responsive organized after-school activities. Journal of Adolescent Research, 32(1), 11–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558416666169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tai, R. H., Qi Liu, C., Maltese, A. V., & Fan, X. (2006). Planning early for careers in science. Science, 312(5777), 1143–1144. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talafian, H., Moy, M. K., Woodard, M. A., & Foster, A. N. (2019). STEM identity exploration through an immersive learning environment. Journal for STEM Education Research, 2, 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-019-00018-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, E., Calabrese Barton, A., Kang, H., & O’Neill, T. (2013). Desiring a career in STEM-related fields: How middle school girls articulate and negotiate identities-in-practice in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(10), 1143–1179. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todd, B. L., & Zvoch, K. (2019). The effect of an informal science intervention on middle school girls’ science affinities. International Journal of Science Education, 41(1), 102–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1534022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wade-Jaimes, K., & Schwartz, R. (2018). “I don’t think it’s science:” African American girls and the figured world of school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21521

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Research on Learning grant: DRL-1612605. A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1644779 and the state of Florida.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL, 32310, USA

    Kari Roberts & Roxanne Hughes

Authors
  1. Kari Roberts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roxanne Hughes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roxanne Hughes.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Roberts, K., Hughes, R. Recognition Matters: the Role of Informal Science Education Programs in Developing Girls’ Science Identity. Journal for STEM Educ Res 5, 214–232 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-022-00069-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-022-00069-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation