Smith-Colin, J. A., & Wieselmann, J. (2020, June), WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35535

\bibitem{asee_peer_35535}
  Smith-Colin, J. A., \& Wieselmann, J. (2020, June), \emph{WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM}
  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line .
  10.18260/1-2--35535

Janille A. Smith-Colin and Jeanna Wieselmann.  "WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM".  2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2020.  https://peer.asee.org/35535 Internet.  22 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_35535}
  Janille A. Smith-Colin and Jeanna Wieselmann.
  "WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM".
  \emph{2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2020.
  https://peer.asee.org/35535 Internet.  22 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_35535
author = "Janille A. Smith-Colin and Jeanna Wieselmann"
title = "WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM"
booktitle = "2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access"
year = "2020"
month = "June"
address = "Virtual On line "
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/35535}
number = {10.18260/1-2--35535}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Fear about devaluation in STEM environments based on race and gender has been found to heighten social identity threat concerns amongst Black women. Social identity threat has been found to lower sense of belonging, increase feelings of exclusion and isolation, and lead to disengagement from a domain or area of study. In addition, Steinke (2017) observed that a science or STEM identity is important for understanding a wide range of STEM-related outcomes including engagement, interest, learning, motivation, persistence, and commitment. Identity-safety cues, including exemplars (i.e., a counterstereotypical example), role models (i.e., someone who a person feels similar to and would like to be like), and positive contextual factors (i.e., identity-safe environments), have been found to assuage social identity threat. The goal of this research is to engage an intersectionality lens to examine the effectiveness of identify-safety cues for assuaging social identity threat amongst young Black girls enrolled in a STEAM program for underrepresented girls.

Previous research on social identity threat in STEM has investigated academic outcomes and experiences of black undergraduate students and professional women. Findings suggest that exposure to a role model or exemplar sharing both a racial and gender identity (i.e., a Black woman scientist) assuages social identity threat concerns. However, previous research has been unclear about whether Black girls most identify with a successful scientist who shares their gender, their identity, or both. Other research has suggested that education context is an important moderating effect with respect to adolescents and STEM identity. Support provided in an identity-safe environment has been found to promote trust and belonging, while an identity-lens has been found to offer the most comprehensive view of STEM persistence and belonging.

Drawing on work done by Casad et al. (2017) to investigate stereotype threat among young girls, and Johnson et al. (2019) to explore identity-safety cues among Black women, fifty girls enrolled in a STEAM academy are being studied in a semester-long longitudinal study. The objectives of this research are the following: (A) examine factors related to young Black girls’ perceptions of role models as providing effective identity-safety cues; and (B) examine differences in STEM identity amongst middle school and high school girls engaged in an identity-safe environment. Objective A examines ingroup differences (i.e., gender or race) impacting the effectiveness of role models and exemplars, while Objective B investigates the role of context (i.e., an identity-safe environment) in moderating the effects of stereotype threat as girls develop a STEM identity. To assess the effectiveness of identity-safety cues, the following outcomes will be investigated: negative attitudes towards the domain, disengagement from the domain, and intention to pursue education and careers in the domain. Work-in-progress reporting will present preliminary findings related to Objective B collected using survey instruments on the development of STEM identity in girls enrolled in an identity-safe environment. Future work will use interviews with STEAM participants to capture perceptions of “actual contact” with exemplars and role models, and report survey findings capturing attitude, disengagement, and intent to pursue careers. 

AU  - Janille A. Smith-Colin
AU  - Jeanna Wieselmann
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - WIP: Effective Identity-Safety Cues for Assuaging Social Identity Threat of Young Black Girls in STEM
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/35535
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--35535
ER  -