The Effect of Values Affirmations on Introductory College Chemistry Grades Among Women

Abstract

Evidence indicates that value affirmations can reduce the achievement gap in science classrooms. Self-affirmation theory suggests that interventions work with students with under-developed self-efficacy and that self-affirmation repairs this negative effect. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design involving text analysis software was used to investigate linguistic differences of 1,414 students in an introductory chemistry course who participated in a value affirmations intervention. Using exploratory factor analysis and Key Words in Context (KWIC), results indicated statistically significant differences within grade categories for high-achieving women in the treatment group. For these high-achieving women, reflecting on close relationships might mitigate the effect of environmental threats, rather than merely belonging to social groups. These findings have relevance in the decision-making for administrators in higher education.