There are two I’s in motivation: Interpersonal dimensions of science self-efficacy among racially diverse adolescent youth

Abstract

With the increased growth of career opportunities in STEM fields, educators and policymakers have sought to better understand the nature and development of students’ motivation to pursue science academic and career pathways successfully. However, our understanding of motivational constructs such as self-efficacy has mostly been based on studies of predominantly White samples, neglecting the perspectives and experiences of students from historically marginalized groups underrepresented in STEM academic and career pathways. In the present study, we examined science motivation in six high school students of color who participated in a brief, near peer mentoring program with undergraduate mentors of color. Deductive and inductive coding of semi-structured interviews with mentees and mentors revealed that science self-efficacy not only has a salient future-oriented component, but also centers around the importance of forming and maintaining interpersonal connections with others through proxy agency and help-seeking behaviors. These data point to the utility of a sociocultural perspective in expanding our understanding of self-efficacy—and motivational processes more generally—in a way that is more inclusive of the experiences of racial and ethnic minority youth.