EXAMINING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ APPROACHES TO LEARNING BIOLOGY WITH A FOCUS ON WOMEN OF COLOR

Abstract

Despite steady growth in national diversity, women of color continue to struggle in accessing higher education and persisting to graduation in STEM fields. Recent shifts in the national narrative from a deficit-based approach towards a strength-based approach to understanding women of color in academic settings, illuminate cultural and social factors that may contribute to positive student outcomes. Science education literature commonly associate deep learning approaches with high academic achievement, requiring students to develop life skills such as complex problem-solving, innovative-thinking, and adaptability to the rapidly changing knowledge base. However, the adoption of deep approaches to learning is strongly influenced by overlapping factors within social and academic environments. Women of color rest at the intersection of such personal and social factors; factors that were historically unexamined in women of STEM scholarship. This mixed method study first explored demographic and academic patterns associated with how introductory biology students approach learning biology, and then used these findings to purposefully select and examine the learning experiences of three women of color holding diverse approaches to learning. Through the lens of intersectionality, this study examines how the mutually constructed identities of race/ethnicity, gender, and science recognized by each woman of color impact their approaches to learning biology.