Cindy Faith Miller

'It's not that we hate you': understanding children's gender attitudes and expectancies about peer relationships.

Widespread gender segregation, evident throughout elementary school, seems to imply that girls and boys have negative feelings and thoughts about one another, and classic theories of inter-group processes support this idea. However, research has generally overlooked childrens feelings and perceptions about gender-related interpersonal interactions. This paper investigates the nature of childrens attitudes about same- and other-gender peers, and explores how those attitudes relate to the expectancies and beliefs children hold about same- and other-gender peer interactions. Children (N= 98 fifth graders) completed questionnaires assessing their global liking of own- and other-gender peers (Yee & Brown, 1994), positive and negative attitudes about own- and other-gender peers, and outcome expectancies related to interacting with own- and other-gender peers. Results indicated that rather than being characterized by out-group negativity, childrens inter-group gender attitudes are best characterized by an in-group positivity bias. Childrens positive and negative affective attitudes were also significantly associated with outcome expectancies. In contrast, global liking of own- and other-gender peers was less predictive of outcome expectancies. Thus, the greater specificity of the affective attitude measures appeared to be a more predictive and potentially fruitful gauge of childrens feelings about own- and other-gender peers. Results are discussed in terms of the need for finer grained and more extensive studies of childrens gender-related feelings and cognitions about own- and other-gender peers.

The efficacy of a relationship building intervention in 5th grade

The present study reports initial efficacy data for a new school-based intervention - the Relationship Building Intervention (RBI) - that includes a series of teacher-facilitated, structured activities designed to promote positive peer relationships and inclusive classroom communities. The RBI was evaluated in fifth-grade classrooms by estimating multilevel model (MLM) analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) comparing 368 fifth-grade students in intervention classrooms with 259 fifth-graders in control classrooms on social behaviors, perceptions of classroom connectedness, and academic performance. Controlling for pretest scores, cohort, and demographic variables, findings revealed that students who participated in the RBI liked school more, felt a greater sense of classroom identification and inclusion, were perceived by teachers to be less aggressive, and performed better academically than students who were in control classrooms. Further, implementation data showed that students and teachers responded positively to the activities. These results suggest that the RBI is a promising approach for improving the social and learning environment in fifth-grade classrooms.

Latinx and Caucasian elementary school children’s knowledge of and interest in engineering activities

Ethnic minorities, such as Latinx people of Hispanic or Latino origin, and women earn fewer engineering degrees than Caucasians and men. With shifting population dynamics and high demands for a technically qualified workforce, it is important to achieve broad participation in the engineering workforce by all ethnicities and both genders. Previous research has examined the knowledge of and interest in engineering among students in grades five and higher. In contrast, the present study examined elementary school students in grades K–5. The study found that older students in grades 4 and 5 had both greater knowledge of engineering occupational activities and greater interest in engineering than younger students in grades K–3. Moreover, Caucasian students had greater knowledge and interest levels than Latinx students. There were no significant differences between boys and girls, nor any significant interactions among gender, grade level, and ethnicity. A significant positive correlation between knowledge of engineering occupational activities and interest in engineering was also found. The findings suggest that early engineering outreach interventions are important. Such early interventions could potentially contribute to preserving the equivalent interest levels of males and females for engineering as students grow older. Also, ethnic disparities in engineering knowledge and interest could potentially be mitigated through early interventions.

School fieldtrip to engineering workshop: pre-, post-, and delayed-post effects on student perceptions by age, gender, and ethnicity

ABSTRACT This article presents a large-scale evaluation study of over 3000 9–14-year-old students who participated in an engineering workshop during their school fieldtrips. Student perceptions right before and after, as well as two weeks after the workshop were captured and examined. Before the workshop, younger students and boys, generally exhibited higher interest, higher self-efficacy, and less negative stereotypes for engineering than their counterparts. Also, Caucasian students had higher self-efficacy and lower negative stereotypes than Hispanic students. Students’ interest, self-efficacy, negative stereotype, and utility perceptions of engineering were significantly improved right after the workshop, and improved perceptions were maintained at the delayed-post (follow-up) survey. The results indicate that fieldtrips can significantly improve students’ perceptions towards engineering and improved perceptions are not limited to the workshop day, but persist afterwards. The gender and ethnic differences in engineering perceptions in the youngest age group indicate that outreach interventions should begin in elementary school.