She Resides at the Intersections: How Race, Gender, and SES Shape Changes in Black Girls' Achievement and Affect in Math and Science Across High School

Diversity in the workplace contributes to creativity, better problem solving, and increased innovation – all things that are necessary in professions in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The underrepresentation of Black women in STEM fields continues to be a persistent problem, and has implications for not only development in these fields, but also equity. Past research has identified that Black girls have a particularly positive relationship with science in middle and high school (Hanson, 2004). They tend to have more interest and positive attitudes in this subject relative to their White counterparts, and in college demonstrate a weaker implicit link between STEM fields and men (O’Brien, Garcia, et al., 2015). Reasons for this relationship may be rooted in racial and gender socialization, especially given that Black girls are often taught to be strong and independent (Jones Thomas, Daniel Hacker, & Hoxha, 2011; Kane, 2000) - traits that are typically associated with STEM fields (Cheryan et al., 2016; Nosek et al., 2009). Further, messages that Black girls receive about preparation for racial bias, may uniquely prepare them for experiences in fields that harbor bias against women. Previous work has found that women from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds tend to select college majors that lead directly to a secure job post-graduation, such as those in STEM fields; whereas women from higher SES backgrounds demonstrate more flexibility in their choices (Davies & Guppy, 1997; Ma, 2009a; Mullen, 2014). Thus, socialization within different SES groups may have implications for attitudes about education and career choice. In addition, the broad body of research on women and girls in STEM tends to lump all STEM fields into a single category, despite differences in perceptions of, level of interest in, and actual participation in these fields. High school is an especially important time to examine this topic given that this is a time of identity exploration and development (Phinney & Alipuria, 1990). Further pre-college decisions (e.g., course-taking) and attitudes have dramatic implications for future entry and persistence in STEM fields (Cheryan et al., 2016; Maple & Stage, 2008; Wang & Degol, 2017). To extend current research on Black girls and STEM, the present study used data from the Youth Identity Project (YIP) to investigate whether changes occur for Black girls’ math and science achievement and affect across high school, and examine how these changes might vary according to racial identity, gender identity, preparation for bias, and socioeconomic status. Results revealed that there are changes in math and science that affect and achievement across high school, and that these changes do indeed vary among Black girls depending on their SES, racial centrality, gender centrality, and level of preparation for bias. This study extends knowledge of how identity and social group membership contributes to academic outcomes in science and math during high school. Findings provide information regarding how affect and achievement in science and math change across high school, and if they differ for among girls based on socialization, SES, and social identities. Understanding how changes in these outcomes differ by social identities and class may help to identify key population groups and points in development at which interventions can be targeted.PHDPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153351/1/ahalawah_1.pd