THE ROLE OF STEREOTYPE THREAT AND IMPOSTOR PHENOMENON IN PREDICTING FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERSISTENCE IN STEM by Kathy Wierzchowski A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Studies West Lafayette, Indiana August 2019 2 THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE APPROVAL Dr. Eric D. Deemer, Chair Department of Educational Studies Dr. Brenda Capobianco Department of Education Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Blake A. Allan Department of Educational Studies Dr. Stephanie M. Gardner Department of Biological Sciences Approved by: Dr. Richard Olenchak Head of the Graduate Program 3 Dedication 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Eric Deemer, for all of his continued support and guidance throughout the dissertation process, as well as throughout my academic career at Purdue. I could not ask for a better advisor. I would also like to thank Dr. Blake Allan, Dr. Brenda Capobianco, and Dr. Stephanie Gardner for serving on my dissertation committee and their continued support of this project and research. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge my peers and colleagues who have supported me as I have worked on this project. Special thanks to my internship cohort, Ashley Jacob, Jessamyn Perlus, and Claire Beaulieu for their encouragement and positivity over this past year. To Keri Frantell and Angi Felber, thank you for the support and the continued friendship you have provided since our days at Marquette. I feel extremely lucky and am so thankful to have such supportive and encouraging friends in my life. Finally, I would like to express my most sincere and deepest gratitude to my parents, Bogdan and Anna Wierzchowski. Without your love, support, and continued sacrifices, I would not be where I am. You have always supported my pursuit of higher education and have helped me find the career that fits me best. I will always remember what you have done for me and will work my hardest each day so that you will be proud. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ 9 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 11 Overview of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 11 Stereotype Threat and Impostor Phenomenon ...................................................................... 13 Importance of the Study ........................................................................................................ 16 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................................................ 17 Terminology and Concepts ................................................................................................... 17 Relevance to Counseling Psychology ....................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 23 Explanations for the Underrepresentation of Women in STEM ............................................... 23 Implicit Stereotyping ............................................................................................................ 24 Cognitive Factors .................................................................................................................. 25 Work-Family Conflict ........................................................................................................... 27 Stereotype Threat: Definitions and Theory .............................................................................. 30 Stereotype Threat and Situational Features .......................................................................... 35 Environmental Cues .............................................................................................................. 40 Gender Composition in the Achievement Environment ....................................................... 44 The Effect of Stereotype Threat on Women in STEM ......................................................... 46 Stereotype Threat presence and impact on Undergraduate Women in STEM ..................... 51 Disidentification from STEM ............................................................................................... 53 Impostor Phenomenon .............................................................................................................. 57 Developmental Antecedents of Impostor Phenomenon ........................................................ 62 The Persistence of Impostorism ............................................................................................ 65 Impostorism in the Workforce .............................................................................................. 67 Impostorism in Academia ..................................................................................................... 68 Impostorism in Graduate Students ........................................................................................ 70 Impostorism amongst Undergraduate Students .................................................................... 72 6 Relationship between Stereotype Threat and Impostor Phenomenon ...................................... 74 Fear of Failure ........................................................................................................................... 79 Achievement-Related Fear of Failure ................................................................................... 82 Fear of Failure in Interpersonal Relationships ...................................................................... 84 Impostor Phenomenon and the Fear of Failure ..................................................................... 86 Fear of Success ......................................................................................................................... 87 Fear of Success as Fear of Deviance ..................................................................................... 90 Situation Specific Fears of Success ...................................................................................... 92 Fear of Failure, Fear of Success, and Impostor Phenomenon in Career Development ........ 93 Academic and Career-Related Self-Efficacy ............................................................................ 96 Career Development in Women and its impact on Science Self-Efficacy ........................... 97 Self-Efficacy in STEM Major Choice ................................................................................ 100 Self-Efficacy’s Impact on STEM Persistence ..................................................................... 104 Academic Major Satisfaction .................................................................................................. 108 Satisfaction in STEM Majors .............................................................................................. 109 The “Leaky Pipeline” and STEM Attrition......................................................................... 114 Hypotheses .............................................................................................................................. 117 Hypothesized Model ............................................................................................................... 118 Alternative Model ................................................................................................................... 118 CHAPTER 3. METHOD ............................................................................................................ 120 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 120 Power Analysis ................................................................................................................... 120 Participants .......................................................................................................................... 121 Measures ............................................................................................................................. 125 Procedure ................................................................................................................................ 129 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 130 CHAPTER 4. Results.................................................................................................................. 134 Data Screening ........................................................................................................................ 134 Preliminary Analyses .............................................................................................................. 135 Analysis of Hypotheses .........................................................................................................