Author(s):
Despite broad consensus that highlighting counter-stereotypical scientist role models in educational materials promotes equity and success, the specific elements that make these materials effective remain untested. Are pictures of counter-stereotypical scientists enough to communicate to students that scientists come from a variety of backgrounds, or is additional information required? To parse the effects of including visual depictions and humanizing information about scientists featured in biology course materials, we distributed three randomized versions of assignments over several academic terms across 36 undergraduate institutions (N > 3,700 students). We found that the inclusion of humanizing information about scientists was key to increasing student engagement with the biology course materials. Structural equation modeling revealed that the extent to which students related to scientists mediated the positive effect of humanizing descriptions on student engagement. Further, our results were strongest among students who shared one or more excluded identity(s) with the featured scientists. Our findings underscore the importance of providing students with examples of humanized, relatable scientists in classrooms. Rather than simply adding a photo to increase representation, showcasing scientists as actual people (enjoying hobbies, experiencing setbacks, etc.) is a promising intervention to engage students with identities historically excluded from STEM. In this lightning talk, we hope to engage curriculum developers and faculty with our findings and collectively discuss additional information needed to develop comprehensive, data-informed guidelines for effectively and equitably featuring counter-stereotypical scientists in undergraduate STEM classrooms.
