Longitudinal analysis of women and men’s motivational beliefs in a two-semester introductory physics course sequence for students on the bioscience track

Societal stereotypes and biases about who belongs in physics and who can excel in it can impact the physics beliefs, including their self-efficacy, interest, and identity, e.g., of women in physics courses. Exploring these beliefs longitudinally and analyzing how different beliefs predict students’ physics identity are important for developing a better understanding of the experiences of women who are majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in their mandatory physics courses and making the learning environment equitable and inclusive. We analyzed beliefs of students longitudinally in introductory physics 1 and physics 2, which are mandatory for students on the bioscience track, and used structural equation modeling (SEM) and a physics identity framework to investigate whether the relation between gender and physics identity was mediated by self-efficacy, interest, and perceived recognition by others. Although women are not underrepresented in this two-semester physics course sequence for students on the bioscience track, societal stereotypes and biases internalized by women over their lifetime can impact their beliefs about physics when they enter these physics classes and gender gaps can persist if the physics learning environment is not equitable and inclusive. Our findings show a gender gap in beliefs disadvantaging women throughout the physics course sequence. Additionally, the SEM model of physics identity shows that physics perceived recognition by others plays a central role in predicting students’ physics identity throughout the two-semester course sequence.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the model based on the theoretical framework. From left to right, all possible paths were considered. Some, but not all, of the regression paths are shown.

Figure 2

Result of the path analysis part of the SEM with the relationship between gender and physics identity being mediated through perceived recognition, self-efficacy, and interest for physics 1. The gender variable was coded as 0 for women and 1 for men. The line thickness qualitatively denotes the relative magnitude of the standardized regression coefficients $\beta$ shown. All $p$ values for $\beta$ are indicated by no superscript for $p<0.001$ “a” for $0.001\le p<0.05$, and “b” for $p\ge 0.05$ (nonsignificant). Gender does not directly predict physics identity.

Figure 3

Result of the path analysis part of the SEM with the relationship between gender and physics identity being mediated through perceived recognition, self-efficacy, and interest for physics 2. The gender variable was coded as 0 for women and 1 for men. The line thickness qualitatively denotes the relative magnitude of the standardized regression coefficients $\beta$ shown. All $p$ values for $\beta$ are indicated by no superscript for $p<0.001$ “a” for $0.001\le p<0.05$, and “b” for $p\ge 0.05$ (nonsignificant). Gender does not directly predict physics identity.