A child’s death augments how grieving parents view the world, the family, and the self. Using a representative sample of women ages 25–45 who have ever given birth, we assessed whether miscarriage, stillbirth, and child death impact self-esteem and whether this loss is moderated by maternal identity. We found that stillbirth and child death, but not miscarriage, negatively impacted self-esteem. For those who experienced a loss, the impact on self-esteem was moderated by maternal identity. Women who experienced a stillbirth were the only group who had significantly lower self-esteem after controlling for background characteristics and maternal identity variables.

Why are some youth more likely to think of themselves as a science kind of person than others? In this paper, we use a cognitive social-theoretical framework to assess disparities in science identity among middle school–age youth in the United States. We investigate how discovery orientation is associated with science interest, perceived ability, importance, and reflected appraisal, and how they are related to whether youth see themselves, and perceive that others see them, as a science kind of person. We surveyed 441 students in an ethnically diverse, low-income middle school. Gender and race/ethnicity are associated with science identity but not with discovery orientation. Structural equation model results show that the positive association between discovery orientation and science identity is mediated by science interest, importance, and reflected appraisal. These findings advance understanding of how science attitudes and recognition may contribute to the underrepresentation of girls and/or minorities in science.

In the United States, gender gaps in science interest widen during the middle school years. Recent research on adults shows that gender gaps in some academic fields are associated with mindsets about ability and gender-science biases. In a sample of 529 students in a U.S. middle school, we assess how explicit boy-science bias, science confidence, science possible self (belief in being able to become a scientist), and desire to be a scientist vary by gender. Guided by theories and prior research, we use a series of multivariate logistic regression models to examine the relationships between mindsets about ability and these variables. We control for self-reported science grades, social capital, and race/ethnic minority status. Results show that seeing academic ability as innate (“fixed mindsets”) is associated with boy-science bias, and that younger girls have less boy-science bias than older girls. Fixed mindsets and boy-science bias are both negatively associated with a science possible self; science confidence is positively associated with a science possible self. In the final model, high science confident and having a science possible self are positively associated with a desire to be a scientist. Facilitating growth mindsets and countering boy-science bias in middle school may be fruitful interventions for widening participation in science careers.

School gardens and outdoor learning spaces are increasingly available to support authentic, student-centered exploration in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Integrating technology tools into school garden spaces in alignment with modern agricultural practices can support inquiry-based learning in which students engage in science practices such as collecting and analyzing data. However, educators currently lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and instructional support to enact technology-rich, garden-based STEM learning experiences. The Garden TOOLS program was designed to support teachers in leveraging technology to support inquiry-based teaching (IBT) in outdoor learning spaces. In this paper, we examine the impact of combining Garden TOOLS professional development workshops with lesson plan implementation in a practicum setting on elementary pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) science teaching self-efficacy. We administered the STEBI-B pre- and post-intervention and assessed change in the STEBI-B subscales, personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE), and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE). Participants included thirty-nine elementary PSTs enrolled in a 300-level science methods course in the rural Midwest. Garden TOOLS professional development workshop participants saw a statistically significant increase from pre- to post-workshop in their PSTE. Participants who also implemented the Garden TOOLS lesson showed both an increase in PSTE and STOE.

In the United States, science capital is important for navigating many aspects of life. Yet during middle school, science interest declines more for girls than boys. It is unclear, however, whether science identity also declines during the middle school years and if there are differences by gender. The authors advance prior research by modeling changes in science identity and associations with changes in identity-relevant characteristics using growth curve analyses on four waves of data from 760 middle school youth. For girls and boys, science identity changes over time; about 40 percent of the variance is within-person change, with the remainder explained by aggregate between-person differences. The associations of all identity-relevant characteristics with science identity are not significantly different for girls and boys, yet declines in average values of identity-relevant characteristics are larger for girls than boys.

In the United States, girls and boys have similar science achievement, yet fewer girls aspire to science careers than boys. This paradox emerges in middle school, when peers begin to play a stronger role in shaping adolescent identities. We use complete network data from a single middle school and theories of gender, identity, and social distance to explore how friendship patterns might influence this gender and science paradox. Three patterns highlight the social dimensions of gendered science persistence: (1) boys and girls do not differ in self-perceived science potential and science career aspirations; (2) consistent with gender-based norms, both middle school boys and girls report that the majority of their female friends are not science kinds of people; and (3) youth with gender-inconsistent science aspirations are more likely to be friends with each other than youth with gender normative science aspirations. Together, this evidence suggests that friendship dynamics contribute to gendered patterns in science career aspirations.