Testing Intersectionality of Race/Ethnicity × Gender in a Social-Cognitive Career Theory Model With Science Identity

Using social-cognitive career theory, we identified the experiential sources of learning that contribute to research self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and science identity for culturally diverse undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (i.e., STEM) majors. We e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of counseling psychology 2019-01, Vol.66 (1), p.30-44
Main Authors: Byars-Winston, Angela, Rogers, Jenna Griebel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
African Americans
Biomedical Research - education
Career Choice
Careers
Cognition
Cognition - physiology
College Students
Continental Population Groups - education
Continental Population Groups - psychology
Engineering - education
Ethnic Groups - education
Ethnic Groups - psychology
Ethnicity
Expectations
Experiential learning
Female
Gender
Gender Identity
Human
Human Sex Differences
Humans
Intention
Intersectionality
Male
Mathematics - education
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Occupational Aspirations
Occupational choice
Path Analysis
Race
Racial and Ethnic Differences
Racial differences
Science
Science and technology
Science Education
Self Efficacy
Social Cognition
Social identity
STEM
Student Attitudes
Students - psychology
Technology
Test Construction
Undergraduate Education
Undergraduate students
Vicarious learning
Young Adult
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Summary:Using social-cognitive career theory, we identified the experiential sources of learning that contribute to research self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and science identity for culturally diverse undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (i.e., STEM) majors. We examined group differences by race/ethnicity and gender to investigate potential cultural variations in a model to explain students' research career intentions. Using a sample of 688 undergraduate students, we ran a series of path models testing the relationships between the experiential sources, research self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and science identity to research career intentions. Findings were largely consistent with our hypotheses in that research self-efficacy and outcome expectancies were directly and positively associated with research career intentions and the associations of the experiential sources to intentions were mediated via self-efficacy. Science identity contributed significant though modest variance to research career intentions indirectly via its positive association with outcome expectations. Science identity also partially mediated the efficacy-outcome expectancies path. The experiential sources of learning were associated in expected directions to research self-efficacy with 3 of the sources emerging as significantly correlated with science identity. An unexpected direct relationship from vicarious learning to intentions was observed. In testing for group differences by race/ethnicity and gender in subsamples of Black/African American and Latino/a students, we found that the hypothesized model incorporating science identity was supported, and most paths did not vary significantly across four Race/Ethnicity × Gender groups, except for 3 paths. Research and practice implications of the findings for supporting research career intentions of culturally diverse undergraduate students are discussed. Public Significance Statement Results of this study demonstrated some ways that research-related learning experiences are related to the research career intentions of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students and how these experiences may be different for African American and Latino/a men and women. It may be useful to consider the different research learning experiences of historically underrepresented groups in academic and career interventions aimed at supporting their research career intentions toward
ISSN:0022-0167
1939-2168
DOI:10.1037/cou0000309