1. Measure of internal validity
Jones, B. J., Ruff, C. & Paretti, M. C., The impact of Engineering identification and Stereotypes on Undergraduate Women's Achievement and Persistence in Engineering. Sociology Psychology Education, Volume 16, pp
Predictors of Intent to Pursue Math
Maryam Gooyabadi, Mike Yaniv & Catherine Good
Baruch College, City University of New York
INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY RESULTS
Very Likely to Pursue Math
In 2011, only 24 percent of the science and engineering workforce were women although they comprised half of the entire college-graduate workers. There has been no employment growth since Additionally, from STEM graduates, men are employed at twice the rate of women. (Census bureau US, 2011)
“women are not good at math” is a common stereotype in STEM fields. Studies have found that stereotype threat - the anxiety to confirm to a negative stereotype about your group – not only undermines women’s performance but also erodes their interest in pursuing STEM related jobs (Steel, 1997).   
In threat environments, two of the factors can lead women in or out of STEM fields are gender identification (Gender ID) – the importance of one’s gender in self-identity – and sense of belonging (SOB) to math - an individual’s feelings of association and acceptance in math. Women high on Gender ID scale have low performance and intent to pursue STEM subjects (Shchmader 2001). Conversely, an effort-based SOB - belonging felt through exerting hard work – positively predicts women’s intent to pursue math rather than an achievement-based SOB – receiving an easy A (Good, Ratan & Dweck, 2012).
This study examines how a varying Gender ID and effort-based SOB in women can predict intent to pursue math.  
1= Highly disagree = Highly agree
Affect
I feel at ease when “I fully engage in math class”.
I feel anxious when “I don’t seek out answers to my questions”.
I feel comfortable when “I participate in class”.
I feel tense when “I don’t apply myself”.
I feel nervous when “I don’t fully engage in math class”.
I feel content when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
I feel calm when “I participate in class”.
I feel inadequate when “I don’t fully engage in math class”.
Trust
I trust the testing materials to be unbiased when “I can apply myself”.
I trust that I do not have to constantly prove myself when “I participate in class”.
I trust my instructors to be committed to helping me learn when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
Even when I do poorly, I trust my instructors to have faith in my potential if “I fully engage in math class”.
Very Unlikely to Pursue Math
Internal consistency of the Sense of Belonging scale. We investigated the internal consistency of the five components (sub scale) separately as well as the composite Sense of Belonging to Math scale as a whole. Cronbach’s alpha was .76 for Membership, .82 for Acceptance, .74 for Affect, .66 for Desire to Fade, and .62 for Trust. We then computed the composite sense of belonging by first creating subscale averages for each of the five components and then averaging them. The seven-component Sense of Belonging to Math measure achieved substantial alpha (Total Cronbach’s .81) – see Table 1.
For women, results showed that effort based sense of belonging was a significant predictor of women’s intent to pursue math, p = For males, the predictive relationship between effort based Sense of belonging and intent was not significant,
p = .605
DESIGN AND PROCEDURE
DISCUSSION
Hypothesis: Women who are high in Gender ID and low on effort-based SOB will have a low intent to pursue math.
Participants: 210 college students (106 male and 104 female).
Procedure: Participants took a survey where they completed a measure of their effort-based sense of belonging to math, how strongly they identify with their gender, and completed a measure of intrinsic motivation to continue studying mathematics. 
Design: Predictive validity (regression). We regressed predictor Gender ID, effort-based SOB, gender, the two-way, and three way interactions on intent to pursue math.
Scale: The Sense of Belonging to Math Scale was developed to predict student’s intent to pursue math (Good, Rattan, & Dweck, 2012) and includes measures of the subscales Membership, Acceptance, Affect, Trust, and Fade. Participants indicated their responses on a scale where 8 is “highly agree” and 1 reflected “highly disagree”.
This study examined the predictive relationship of Gender ID and an effort-based SOB on the intent to pursue math in women. Once the internal consistency of the SOB scale was examined, we regressed Gender ID, effort-based SOB, and gender on intent to pursue math. Although a relationship did exist between Gender ID and intent, it did not prove significant. However, effort-based SOB was significantly predictive of intent for females and not for men.
The results suggest that while Gender ID does play a role in women’s intent to pursue math, effort-based SOB accounts for more of the variance. Hence, when female participants possessed a sense of belonging to math which stemming from effort, the level to which being female was essential to their identity did not influence their desire to pursue STEM fields. Compared to achievement-based SOB, female participants with effort-based SOB had a significant boost in intent to pursue math. The same was not true for male participants. Perhaps because there are no strong stereotypes for males in math, there is little variance between achievement and effort-based SOB.
Our finding are similar to that of in Brett D Jones and Good’s studies that demonstrated that environments that foster an effort-based sense of belong rather than an ability-based one can be a key determinant in student’s intent and perseverance in STEM subjects, eliminating apparent differences based on ability alone. (Jones, B. J., Ruff, C. & Paretti, M. C., 2013; Good, C., Dweck, C. S. & Rattan, A., 2012)
Since this is a predictive study and not an experimental one, future research may introduce a non-threat condition in an experimental settings to demonstrate how gender identification and effort based sense of belonging interact to predict intent to pursue math.
Table 1
Measure of internal validity
Membership
Acceptance
Affect
Fade
Trust
Total
.76
.814
.741
.658
.62
Men
.758
.773
.717
.631
.585
Women
.781
.848
.769
.673
.643
Predictive validity (Analysis). Our final step was to determine the unique power of Gender, Gender Identification and Sense of Belonging to Math as a predictor of intention to pursue math in the future. To this end, we regressed each of these variables as well as all the two-way interactions and three-way interaction on intent to pursue to Math. Contrary to predictions, Gender ID was not a significant predictor of intent to pursue math in the future. However, the 2 way interaction between Gender and Effort based sense of belonging was significant in predicting participants’ intent to pursue math - see Table 2.
Sense of belonging Scale
1= Highly disagree = Highly agree
Membership
I typically have felt that I belong to the math community when “I apply myself”.
I typically have considered myself a member of the math world when “I fully engage in math class”.
I typically have felt like I am a part of the math community when “I participate in class”.
I typically have felt a connection with the math community when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
Fade
I wish I could fade into the background and not be noticed when “I don’t participate in class”.
I try to say as little as possible when “I don’t fully engage in math class”
I enjoy being an active participant when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
I wish I were invisible when “I don’t apply myself”.
Acceptance
I feel like an outsider when “I don’t apply myself”.
I feel accepted when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
I feel respected when “I fully engage in the math class”.
I feel disregarded when “I don’t participate”.
I feel valued when “I apply myself”.
I feel neglected when “I don’t fully engage in math class”.
I feel appreciated when “I seek out answers to my questions”.
I feel excluded when “I don’t participate”.
I feel like I fit in when “I fully engage in math class”.
I feel insignificant when “I don’t apply myself”.
Table 2
Predictive Validity: Standardized Regression Coefficients and Squared Multiple Correlations: Females Only
Predictor Variable
Criterion Variable
Gender ID
SOBEff
Gender
SOBEff x Gender ID
Gender ID x Gender
SOBEff x Gender
Gender x Gender ID x SOBEff
Adj. R^2
Intent
.796
.332
.142
.752
.221
.094**
.152
.059
Note. Regression coefficients represent the effects of each variable controlling for each of the others in the model. Gender ID = gender identification, SOBEff = sense of belonging effort
**p < 0.1
References
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117,
Census bureau US, Economics and statistics administration (2011). “Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin”
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Perspectives on Motivation, Lincoln, NE. ,
Goodenow, C. (1993a). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to motivation and achievement. Journal of Early Adolescence, 13, 9
Good, C., Dweck, C. S. & Rattan, A., Why do Women Opt Out? Sense of Belonging and Women's Representation in Mathematics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), pp
Jones, B. J., Ruff, C. & Paretti, M. C., The The impact of Engineering identification and Stereotypes on Undergraduate Women's Achievement and Persistence in Engineering. Sociology Psychology Education, Volume 16, pp
McClelland, D. C. (1987). Human motivation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality: A clinical and experimental study of fifty men of college age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance.
American Psychologist, 52, 613–629. doi: / X
U.S. Department of Commerce report, 2011
Vallerand, R. J. (1997). Toward a hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp ). New York: Academic Press.
In light of the significant interaction between Gender and Sense of Belonging Effort, we conducted regression separately for men and women to explore any differences in patterns for the two sexes that might arise.