Students experience several benefits from participating in peer-led team learning (PLTL). More specifically, research shows that PLTL positively influences students’ self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and these effects are particularly pronounced for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM (e.g., women and ethnic minorities). However, previous research has yet to explore whether the peer-leaders’ gender and ethnic identity influences students’ self-efficacy. Literature on role models (i.e., individuals with whom one feels similar and aspires to be like) would suggest that peer-leaders who share the same gender and ethnic identity as the students in their group can increase those students’ self-efficacy. Across two PLTL chemistry courses, the current study examined whether having the same identity (i.e., gender or ethnic identity) as their peer-leader may be particularly beneficial for women and ethnic minorities. At the beginning of the semester, women and ethnic minorities reported lower self-efficacy compared to men and White students. However, at the end of the semester, female and minority students with a peer-leader who matched their gender or ethnicity reported higher self-efficacy and did not differ significantly from their male or White counterparts. Thus, identity matching plays an important role in whether a peer-leader acts as an effective role model, and peer-leaders with overlapping gender and ethnic identities can increase women and ethnic minorities’ self-efficacy in STEM. Therefore, STEM educators may consider matching students with similar peer-leaders.

Birds of a feather: An exploratory study of the effects of similarity with peer-leaders

2019 Spring National Meeting

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