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Gender Identity and Student Perceptions of Peer Research Aptitude in CUREs and Traditional Laboratory Courses in the Biological Sciences
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Gender Identity and Student Perceptions of Peer Research Aptitude in CUREs and Traditional Laboratory Courses in the Biological Sciences

David Esparza, Aimeé A Hernández-Gaytan and Jeffrey T Olimpo
CBE life sciences education, v 22(4), ar53
01 Dec 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-03-0054
PMID: 37991869
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-03-0054View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Aptitude Biological Science Disciplines Female Gender Identity Humans Learning Male Students
While several studies have investigated gender inequities in the social learning environment of biology lecture courses, that same phenomenon remains largely unexplored in biology laboratory contexts. We conducted a mixed methods study to understand the influence of gender on student perceptions of their peers' research aptitude in introductory biology CUREs and traditional laboratory courses. Specifically, students ( = 125) were asked to complete a name generator survey at three time points across the semester. This survey asked students to list the names of peers whom they viewed as "most proficient" in the course investigations and to justify their choice via an open-ended response prompt. Using social network analysis, exponential random graph modeling (ERGM), and thematic analysis, we demonstrate that student gender identity did not influence nomination behaviors in CURE or traditional laboratory courses. However, the ERGMs reveal the presence of a popularity effect in CUREs and demonstrate that mutual nominations were more prevalent in traditional laboratory courses. Our qualitative data further provide insights into the reasons students nominated peers as proficient in CURE and traditional courses.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Education, Scientific Disciplines
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