Exploring Identity-Safety Cues and Allyship Among Black Women Students in STEM Environments

Abstract

Black women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and report feeling unwelcome in STEM. A successful scientist exemplar or role model may signal to Black women they are valued in STEM environments. We investigated who acts as an identity-safety cue for Black women. In Study 1, Black women students who learned about a Black man or a Black woman professor in a hypothetical School of Science and Engineering reported greater anticipated belonging and trust, relative to those learning about a White man or a White woman professor. In Study 2, we recruited Black women STEM majors from a predominantly White institution and a women-only historically Black college. We examined how both groups identified role models in STEM and assessed how perceptions that role models were allies related to belonging in the institution and belonging in STEM. Across both educational environments, having Black women and Black men role models, and perceiving role models who lacked a common racial identity as allies, positively related to belonging in the institution. We encourage the use of Black exemplars and role models, as well as allies, in interventions geared toward increasing belonging among Black women in STEM. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684319830926 and a podcast for instructors who want to use this article for teaching is available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index