Meta-lay theories of scientific potential drive women and minorities’ sense of belonging in science.

The current research investigates people’s perceptions of others’ lay theories (or mindsets), an understudied construct that we call meta-lay theories. Six studies examine whether underrepresented students’ meta-lay theories influence their sense of belonging to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The studies tested whether underrepresented students who perceive their faculty as believing most students have high scientific aptitude (a universal metatheory) would report a stronger sense of belonging to STEM than those who think their faculty believe that not everyone has high scientific aptitude (a nonuniversal metatheory). Women PhD candidates in STEM fields who held universal rather than nonuniversal metatheories felt greater sense of belonging to their field, both when metatheories were measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2). Undergraduates who held more universal metatheories reported a higher sense of belonging to STEM (Studies 3 and 4) and earned higher final course grades (Study 3). Experimental manipulations depicting a professor communicating the universal lay theory eliminated the difference between African American and European American students’ attraction to a STEM course (Study 5) and between women and men’s sense of belonging to STEM (Study 6). Mini meta-analyses indicated that the universal metatheory increases underrepresented students’ sense of belonging to STEM, reduces the extent of social identity threat they experience, and reduces their perception of faculty as endorsing stereotypes. Across different underrepresented groups, types of institutions, areas of STEM, and points in the STEM pipeline, students’ metaperceptions of faculty’s lay theories about scientific aptitude influence their sense of belonging to STEM.

本研究探讨个体对他人朴素理论（lay theories）或思维模式（mindsets）的知觉，这一尚未得到充分研究的构念被我们称为元朴素理论（meta-lay theories）。六项实验考察了代表性不足群体学生（underrepresented students）的元朴素理论是否会影响其在科学、技术、工程与数学（STEM）领域的归属感。实验检验了如下假设：相较于持有非普适元理论（nonuniversal metatheory）——即认为自身所在院系教职员工认为并非所有人都具备高水平科学天赋——的学生，那些持有普适元理论（universal metatheory）——即感知到院系教职员工认为多数学生都拥有高水平科学天赋——的代表性不足群体学生，是否会报告更强的STEM领域归属感。在STEM领域的女性博士候选人中，持有普适元理论而非非普适元理论的个体，在元理论被测量（研究1）与被操纵（研究2）两种情境下，均报告了更强的领域归属感。持有更强普适元理论的本科生，报告了更高的STEM领域归属感（研究3与研究4），且期末课程成绩更为优异（研究3）。实验操纵环节中，当向学生传递教授所传达的普适朴素理论后，非裔美国与欧裔美国学生对STEM课程的吸引力差异（研究5），以及男女学生的STEM领域归属感差异（研究6）均被消除。小型元分析结果显示，普适元理论能够提升代表性不足群体学生的STEM领域归属感，降低其感知到的社会身份威胁（social identity threat）程度，同时削弱其对教职员工认同刻板印象的知觉。无论针对不同的代表性不足群体、院校类型、STEM细分领域，亦或是STEM培养路径（STEM pipeline）的不同阶段，学生对教职员工关于科学天赋的朴素理论的元知觉，均会对其STEM领域归属感产生影响。