10 Application of Technology – Supported Growth Mindset Strategy in Minimizing Cultural stereotype threat effect among Female Physics Students

Abstract

The persistent low representation of women in STEM related career paths has been variously attributed to poor and under-performance of females in science, technology and mathematics. Studies (Beasley & Fischer, 2012) have found that certain non-cognitive factors which are stereotypical threaten the extent to which females perform in relation to males. In Nigeria, cultural, religious and traditional factors have assigned special roles to the female gender. There therefore exist certain expectations from the female gender. The ability to study science, particularly physics and Mathematics are worse affected. This study therefore focuses on finding out the effect of Technology supported mindset growing strategies in helping female Physics students overcome the consequences of stereotype threat. Forty secondary school Physics students participated in a 12-weeks growth mindset seminar/ workshop in which they were given growth mindset motivational interactive activities digitally in a pretest-posttest design setting. Three hypotheses were tested and Interest in Physics Career Inventory (IPCI) and a Mindset Determination Questionnaire (MDQ) were used to collect data. Result from t-test showed a significant improvement in participants’ interest in pursuing further career in Physics as well as evidence of improved growth in the mindset of subjects previously classified as fixed. It was concluded that the effect of stereotype threat can be overcome by digitally supported interventions and should be employed from time to time to help girls and women overcome certain cultural stereotypes that have implication for science learning and career success.

Key words: Stereotype threat; Achievement; Growth mindset; Non- cognitive skills for science learning.

Introduction

Huge bodies of research have pointed to the pervasive influence of cultural and social beliefs and stereotypes on the performance of females in science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) all over the world. This has been blamed for the low representation of women in STEM fields and careers as well as their low financial security, poor economic growth and innovativeness compared to males of the same status. Studies (Steele & Aronson, 1995, Beede, Julian, London,Mckittrick,Khan & Dom, 2011;) have shown that girls score less than boys of equivalent status in STEM test due to certain expectations and psychological beliefs inimical to their performance. Singletary, Ruggs, Hebl and Davis (2009) after an overview of literature commented that stereotyped groups whether positive or negative, elicit a variety of emotions. Negative stereotypes often cause negative responses, which can manifest themselves in the stereotyped individual’s reactions, performance on a task, motivation, and self-esteem. The effect of stereotyped threat on the performance of girls in Physics and Mathematics has been variously reported (Cheng, Kopotic & Zamarra, 2017) by research and blamed for the low representation of girls and women in Engineering and Computer Science careers. When individuals are aware that their groups are stereotyped, they begin to struggle both psychologically and physically which create a state of worry, fear of negative evaluation and less focus on tasks. This state is referred to as stereotype threat (Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1995)

Discussing the effect of stereotype threat, Singletary, Ruggs, Hebl and Davis (2009) noted that its psychological and physiological effects are enhanced, heightened and aroused by anxiety, fear, domain, individual differences, gender and working memory of the individual. These states, according to the review, singly and interactively influence peoples’ major life decisions, prominent among which is choice of profession and careers. Another dimension to the understanding of stereotype threat is looking at the factors that activate stereotype threat among stereotyped groups. Studies have shown that individual and group knowledge about their existing devaluation heighten fear, anxiety and in turn predict negatively their achievement in science, mathematics and computer science (Seo & Lee, 2021; Spencer, Logel & Davies, 2016)

Efforts at understanding stereotype threat (Cheng, Kopotic & Zammara, 2017, Nix, Perez-Felkner & Thomas, 2015; Yeager & Dweck, 2012) have directed attention to some non-cognitive factors such as gender, race, colour, socio- economic status as having debilitating impact on mindset of stereotyped individuals and groups. While some studies are emphatic that the performance and participation gap in science between males and females is traceable to stereotype effects to the disadvantage of the female gender, some studies find no such gaps.

In Nigeria, most ethnic cultures begin early in life to impact the belief that certain roles are reserved for male and females. The import of this early belief in the psyche of the girl child become manifest in the stereotypic career decisions and paths they often follow. Knowledge of society assigned roles may possibly pose threats that foster the feeling that women cannot perform as much as men and that women should only be found in traditionally assigned careers and profession in addition to their reproductive and home making roles. The threat posed by stereotyping in Nigeria according to Njoku (2006) is significant and if removed will improve girls’ performance significantly. Nzewi and Ibenegbu (2017) thus recommended that female students be taught about stereotype threat to mitigate its effect.

Modern Psychology shows that one’s belief system about own abilities and potentials fuels ones behaviours and predicts ones success. Dweck (2006) in her work, “mindset: The new Psychology of success” explains that conscious and unconscious beliefs have profound impact on every aspect of our lives including the choices we make and our perceived abilities. These sum up to define individual personalities. Fixed mindset, Dweck explains, assumes that intelligence, ability and creative tendencies are static and striving for success by avoiding failure is a smart way out. On the other hand, she explains growth mindset as one that thrives on challenges and conceptualizes failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as springboard for growth and stretching of existing abilities. She also expressed the view that girls are more likely to possess the fixed mindset compared to boys of the same status and ability except otherwise helped.

Gibbons and Raker (2019) reviewing Bandura (1977) on the effects of the two components of self-beliefs on achievement noted that while self-efficacy is an individual’s evaluation of their ability to achieve specific outcome by completing required tasks, self-concept refers to an individual’s evaluation of their general ability within a domain rather than their ability to achieve a specific outcome. Self- belief therefore not only predicts future achievement and choice of science (Self-efficacy) but is also predicted by previous experience (self-concept) Bryan, Glynn & Kittleson, 2011, Sha, Schunn & Bathgate, 2015;Glynn, Brickman, Armstrong & Taasoobshirazi, 2011). In the context of this study, cultural influences contribute to the experiences individuals have growing up and the influence of self-concept of stereotyped groups’ mindset formation may be a strong factor in predicting female choices and attitude toward physics and related career paths and should not be dismissed with a wave of hand. Viewed from Expectancy- value theory (EVT) (Simpon,Davis-Kean, &Eccles, 2006; Wigfield & Cambria, 2010), choice is an indication of motivation and is predicted by self-belief. In fact, Sha, Schunn & Bathgate (2015) reported a monotonic (near linear) relationship of self-efficacy and interest with choice preferences .

The influence of technology- supported training/ intervention in boosting interest and modifying behavior has been variously reported and documented. Egbejimi (2019) reported a positive effect of concept cartoons, animation and peer debates on chemistry students’ motivation and interest in chemistry while Moemeke and Omoifo (2009) had earlier noted that certain instructional devices tend to favour females in the learning of science if they tend to fortify and help build their confidence in their ability to perform in science tasks. There is a dearth of studies on stereotype threats and possible remediation to mitigate the effects on stereotyped groups and individuals in Nigeria. This focus of this study therefore is to investigate the possible remediating effect of growth mindset development strategy using technology enhanced motivational and mind-building strategies in helping females improve their mindset and reduce the influence of stereotype threat in learning of Physics..

Statement of the problem

Bridging the supposed performance gap between males and females in science and consequently improving participation in science career path has been a topic of research for more than a decade. Dweck (2006) in the process identified two types of mindset that have high implication for learning and explained that individuals with fixed mindset tend to underachieve academically. She reported that females are more likely to have fixed mindset compared to males who most often possess growth mindset. While mindset is an ambiguous behavioural construct resulting from a variety of thought, value, feelings and emotions like attitude, they are context related (Van Aldermen-Smeets & Walma van der Molen, 2015), as well as have cultural affinities. Content – based interventions often contribute insignificantly to improvement of attitudes particularly towards science since gender belief about science is just one of the cognitive beliefs and which often act connectedly with anxiety, self- efficacy and context dependency in producing behavior as explained in the Tripartite model of attitudes.

Apart from self- beliefs, Dimitriadi (2013) has expressed the view that low choice of hard science such as physics is attributable to ignorance of the information of what the choice entails the benefits of science career paths and prejudiced mindset and inertia. She identified implications of female exclusion or low participation in science and physics to include economic, practical and moral which are necessary for every nation’s development and manpower utilization. While the notion that the performance gap is genetic is strong in certain research quarters, the exist a body of studies (Steele, Aronson and Spencer, ) which concede that test-score gaps probably can’t be totally attributed to stereotype threat, the threat appears to be sufficiently influential to be heeded by teachers, students, researchers, policymakers and parents. They suggest that at least, there is a tendency to lay the blame on cultural factors, the effect of which can be better appreciated by understanding the psychology of stigma and stigmatization on human emotions and self-concept and their link with performance. Steele et al. also beamed the light on the possibility of decreasing the effect of stereotype threat on performance by altering the situations and enhance or perpetrate the threat such as prejudice, fear and anxiety. This study counted on the motivating qualities of digital intervention options in providing the necessary help to mitigate stereotype threat in science learning by females.

Research Questions

1. What is the confidence level of female physics students in pursuing STEM careers after school?
2. Will the application of Digital growth mindset intervention strategy enhance female Physics students’ interest in STEM careers?
3. Is there any difference in the mindset of the students before and after the intervention?

Research hypotheses

1. There is no significant difference in the confidence level of female physics students after the application of the growth mindset intervention
2. There is no significant difference in the interest of female students in engaging in future STEM career before and after the growth mindset intervention
3. There is no significant difference in the mindset of the students before and after the intervention digital growth mindset intervention

Materials and Methods

The study employed a quazi experimental design involving the pretest and posttests. The dependent variables were the student scores in interest in Physics and mindset score. The Interest in Physics Career Inventory (IPCI) is a 20- item inventory that rates the interest of the students in a 4-point likert scale. The mindset determination questionnaire (MDQ) is also a 20-item likert scale covering eleven key areas that differentiate fixed and growth mindset categories. The independent variable was the intervention strategy consisting of digital Growth mindset motivational interaction activities held during the 2019/2020 academic session in a middle level private girls’ secondary school in Delta state as part of career development and awareness programme which lasted for twelve weeks. The two instruments were administered to the students at the beginning of the programme and at the end. At the pre workshop stage of the programme which involved counseling and career guidance, it became obvious that most of the students though chose biology; they tactically avoided courses that involved Physics and Mathematics. The MDQ and IPCI were then administered to collect pretest data. A ten-week mindset mitigating activities were sent to the participating students through Whatsapp or CD-Rom on weekly basis after a one-hour face to face interaction and peer review with the researcher. The topics covered ‘science and I’, ‘science and my society’, ‘our world without science: a void’, ‘’Physics the science of world and materials’, ‘the woman and the material world’, ‘women in physics’, ‘fear: the non-existent destroyer of destiny’, ‘women achievers in physics and material science’. These short videos non cognitive but consisted of stories, talks and speeches about females in science. During the programme, participants were exposed to various strategies of enhancing self- development through growth mindset strategies with in-built interactive sessions on avoiding self- defeatism, building a bridge between sexuality and professionalism, setting and achievement of professional goals, creating an innovative mindset and enhancing your decision –making competencies While some of the videos were animated, others required hand-on but simple activities and yet other involved motivational speeches by women physicists. Each video lasted between 15 to 20 minutes and were viewed by the students at the career exploration time specifically created by the school for the purpose every Thursday by three o’clock in the computer pool since android phone were not allowed in the school for use by students. Only students who achieved 70% participation were used in the study. Students who scored 40 and below in each of the tests were judged as having the fixed mindset, while scores of above 40 are categorized as possessing the growth mindset. Also scored of 0 to 20 in the IPCI were grouped as low in interest and confidence in their ability to study Physics while scores of 21 to 40 and 41 and above ate categorized as moderate and high interest and confidence in the learning of Physics.

A total of 40 Physics female secondary school students participated in the 12-week growth mindset motivational interaction activities. The participants were selected after scrutiny of the academic performance of the students in sciences particularly physics and mathematics in senior secondary two examinations by the counseling unit of the school. The Interest in Physics Career Inventory (IPCI) and MDQ were re-administered after the mind building project to collect posttest data

Results

Result of the study is presented in the tables below.

Table 2: Mean and standard deviation of participants’ Pretest and posttest scores by

variable

	Confidence Interest Mindset
N M SD M SD M SD Pretest 40 22.98 10.299 29.60 11.879 37.35 14.063 Posttest 40 58.53 14.681 58.40 13.024 59.65 11.742

Table 3: Summary of paired sample t-test by variable at pre and posttests

Pretest Posttest 95% CI for mean Sig. Outcome N M SD M SD Difference r t df 2-tailed Confidence 40 22.98 10.29 58.53 14.68 -40.513, -30.587 267 -14.49 39 .000 Interest in future STEM career 40 29.60 11.8858.40 13.02 -32.73, -24.87 .516 -14.82 39 .000 Mindset type 40 37.35 14.06 59.65 11.74 -27.24, -17.359 .293 -9.13 39 .000

P<.05

As shown in the table above, the paired sample t-test showed that mean confidence of the participant (M=22.98,SD=10.29) increased significantly at posttest after the technology enhanced mind growing intervention (M=58.53,SD=14.68) at .000 level of significance t(39) = -14.49, p<0.05, at 95%confidence interval. Mean difference between pre and posttest was 35.55 and is significant at .000 level of significance. The positive gain due to the intervention is also evident in the minimum (8 and 48) and maximum scores ((20 and 80) of participants at before and after the intervention. This means that the participants gained more confidence in their ability to pursue STEM career in future from the intervention thus hypothesis of no significant difference in confidence level of participants due to the intervention was rejected.

In terms of hypothesis two, t-test of paired samples showed the participants’ mean interest score in Physics (M= 29.60, SD = 11.88) increased to (M = 58.40, SD= 13.02) after the intervention t(39) = -14.82, n = 40,p<.000, 95% confidence interval with a mean difference of 28.8. The technology-enhanced mindset growing intervention improved the participants’ interest in Physics significantly. It is also evident in the minimum and maximum scores of the participants at pretest (8 and 48) and at posttest (20 and 80) respectively. The null hypothesis stating a no significant difference in the interest of participants towards physics was rejected.

The table also showed the participants pretest mean score (M= 37.35, SD = 14.06 on the mindset Determination questionnaire (MDQ) was significantly different after the intervention (M = 59.65, SD = 11.74) with t(39) = -9.13, p< .000 at 95% confidence level (mean gain = 22.3). Hypothesis three which states that there is no significant difference in the mindset of the participants before and after the intervention was rejected.

Discussion of findings

The objective of the study was to determine if the mindset of female physics students due to cultural influences can be mitigation by technologic/ digital interventions that inspire, motivate, inform, challenge and modify females students’ notion of science and science careers since literature (Dweck, 2006; Dimitriadi, 2013)) has implicated the type of mindset predominantly possessed by females as partly responsible for underachievement and low interest in science learning and career. Three variables (confidence in ability to learn physics, interest in future STEM career and mindset change) were investigated. The improvement in participants’ self- confidence, interest and mindset supports the views of Van Aldermen-Smeets & Walma van der Molen, (2015) and Singletary, Ruggs, Hebl and Davis (2009) that content mediated intervention contribute insignificantly in improving attitude and other non- cognitive variables because attitude is composite in nature, context dependent and integrated. Thus non cognitive approaches seem to be effective in improving psychological and culturally reinforced stereotype as is prevalent in non- western cultures such as Nigeria. The significance of the difference in the three constructs corroborates the views of Nzewi and Ibenegbu (2017), Dimitriadi (2013) and Njoku (2006) that stereotypes and the mindset resulting from it can be mitigated by psychological mind building strategies and information enrichment of stereotyped individuals rather than domain specific content learning. Worthy of note is the finding that enhancing self- belief (self- concept and self- efficacy) are important in helping individual switch mindset and ultimately improve performance and participation in science career path. The potency of technology in increasing interest and motivation reported by Egbejimi (2020) was also corroborated by this study thus re-echoing the multifaceted imports of technology and digital designs in enhancing learning.

Conclusion

From the result of the study, the author concludes that mindset is a subtle but salient factor that determines individual and group performance and participation in Physics. Mindset is a psychological situation that changes with context and can be altered through appropriate non- cognitive interventions. Technology-enhanced interventions are effective in helping students change their mindset about science without altering their science content knowledge.

Recommendations

There is need for regular psychological and motivational therapeutic interventions in non- cognitive skill development such as self-concept, self- efficacy and growth mindset development to help strengthen females in STEM career areas and motivate students to enter, succeed, remain and progress in STEM career options. They need this to stand up against age-long stereotype threats that mitigate their continued progress in the STEM career paths. Female organizations in science such as Women in Science in Developing World (OWSD), Forum for Women Academics (FAWE) and other gender focused organizations should direct their activities at the grass root (Secondary and Primary schools) where the motivation for learning and doing science is developed and cultivated. This will help sustain female presence in STEM areas in future generations especially in Africa. The need for cultural reorientation and awareness is also stressed since no nation can develop fully without harnessing the full potentials of her citizenry.

Teaching of physics should also be fortified with modern technology to boot students’ interest since interest and self-belief are keyelements in motivation and effective science learning.

References

Bandura, A (1977). Self-efficacy: Towards a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological review, 84(2), 191- 215

Bealey, M. a & Fischer, M. J (2012) Why they leave: the impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, Math and Engineering major.. Social Psychology of Education (15)427-448

Beede, D., Julian, T., Langdon, D., McKittrick, G., Khan, B.,& Doms, M. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation (ESA Issue Brief #04-11). Washington DC: US Department of Commerce.

Bryan. R. B., Glynn, S. M., & Kittleson, J. M (2011). Motivation, achievement, and advanced placement intent of high school students learning science. Science Education, 9596), 1049-1065

Cheng, A., Kopotic & Zammaran, C, 2017). Can parents’ growth mindset and role modeling address STEM gender gap? ENDRE working paper.

Claro, C, Paunesku, D., & Dweck, C S (2016) Growth mindset tempers the effect of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (31), 8664-8668.

Egbejimi, B. A (2019). Impact of concept cartoons and computer animation on students’achievement in oxidation-Reduction Reaction in Chemistry. A Ph.D thesis submitted to the School of Postgraduate studies, University of Benin, Benin-city

Dimitriadi, A (2013). Young women in science and Technology: the importance of choice. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2(5) https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-5372-2-5

Dweck, C. (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books

Gibbons, R. E and Raker, J. R ( 2019) Self-beliefs in organic Chemistry: Evaluation of a reciprocal causation, cross-lagged model. Journal of research in science teaching 56(5)596-618

Glynn, S. M ., Brickman, P., Armstrong, N & Taasoobshirazi, G. (2011). Science motivation questionnaire 11: Validation with science major and non- science majors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(10), 1159-1176

Moemeke, C. D & Omoifo, C. N (2009). Can the Learning Cycle Curriculum model Bring Secondary Students Back to Experimental Biology? Proceedings of the International Conference and workshop on higher Education, Partnership and innovation (IHEPI), Budapest, 93-102 ISBN 978-963-88332-5-9

Nix, S., Perez-Felkner, L., &Thomas, K., (2015). Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: a longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree fields. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(530). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00530

Njoku (2006). Images of females in science: a gender analysis of science and technology activities in Nigerian primary science textbooks. Journal of Primary Education 1(1) 3-12

Nzewi, U. M & Ibenegbu, Q. O (2017) Building a science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline for Girls and women. New perspectives in Gender studies in Nigeria.

Sha, L., Schunn, C., & Bathgate, M (2015) Measuring choice to participate in optional science learning experiences During early adolescence. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 52(5)686-709

Spencer, S. J., Logel, C & Davies, P.G (2016) Stereotype Threat. Annu Rev Psychology (67) 415-37. Doi: 10.1146/annurevpsych-073115-103235.Epub2015Sep10.pmID26361054.

Simpkins, S.D., Davie-Kean, P. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2006). Maths and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs. Developmental  Psychology, 42(1), 70-83

Soe, E & Lee, Y(2021) Stereotype Threat in High school classrooms: How it links to teacher Mindset Climate, mathematics Anxiety, and Achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. April

Singletary, S. L., Ruggs, E. N., Hebl, M. R & Davis, P.G (2009) Literature Overview: Stereotype Threat: Causes, Effects, and Remedies. A Product of SWE-AWE retrieved May, 2019 from (www.AWEonline.org ) and NAE CASEE (www.nae.edu/casee-equity

Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4-28.

Steele, C. M & Aronson, J (1995). ´Stereotype Threat and the intellectual Test Performance of African-American”. Journal of personality and Social Psychology 69 pp797-811.

Van Aalderen Smeets, I & Walma van der Molen (2015) Improving Primary Teachers’ Attitudes Towards science by Attitude-Focused Professional Development. 52(5)710-734

Wigfield, A & Cambria, J (2010). Students’ achievement value, goal orientation, and interest: Definitions, development, and relations to achievement outcomes. Developmental Review, 30(1),1-35

Yeager, D., & Dweck, C.S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.