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STEM Faculty Instructional Beliefs Regarding Assessment, Grading, and Diversity are Linked to Racial Equity Grade Gaps

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Abstract

Studies indicate that racial disparities in STEM achievement or equity grade gaps are associated with faculty fixed mindset beliefs; however, whether specific instructional beliefs are linked to student academic achievement remains unclear. We surveyed 216 STEM faculty to assess their mindset and instructional beliefs and linked these to detailed student transcript data (n = 31,361). Results reveal that faculty with fixed mindset beliefs also endorsed more traditional instructional beliefs regarding assessment, grading, and diversity. Further, the endorsement of these beliefs was associated with larger equity grade gaps. Analysis of faculty characteristics indicate that male faculty, full professors, and instructors in Physical Sciences tended to hold instructional beliefs that are linked to larger equity grade gaps.

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Data are not publicly available. All inquiries about the data and the paper should be directed to the corresponding authors.

Notes

  1. While the term minoritized could encompass multiple intersecting dimensions of identities and backgrounds, e.g. gender, race and ethnicity, etc., we use the term “minoritized” to specifically describe the underrepresentation of STEM students in college based on ethnicity and race. We recognize that East and South Asian students are racially minoritized in other ways that are not generally observable in aggregate by representation statistics (Castro & Collins, 2021).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the survey participants for their time in completing the study survey.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF DUE 1821724).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Westat, 1600 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD, 20850, USA

    Elizabeth S. Park

  2. Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Mike Wilton

  3. Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Stanley M. Lo

  4. Program in Mathematics and Science Education, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Stanley M. Lo & Nicole A. Suarez

  5. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Natascha Buswell

  6. Program in Mathematics and Science Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Nicole A. Suarez

  7. Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, 2238 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Brian K. Sato

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  1. Elizabeth S. Park
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Correspondence to Elizabeth S. Park or Brian K. Sato.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 5 and 6.

Table 5 Constructs and survey items
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Table 6 Means and standard deviations of survey construct and indices
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Park, E.S., Wilton, M., Lo, S.M. et al. STEM Faculty Instructional Beliefs Regarding Assessment, Grading, and Diversity are Linked to Racial Equity Grade Gaps. Res High Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-023-09769-0

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