Students’ certainty about belonging and their performance in a STEM course reinforce each other – for better or worse

New research shows that belonging insecurity in a STEM course, specifically a first-year chemistry course, can affect a student's midterm scores, which can then feed back into the student's belonging uncertainty. For students in groups that are underrepresented in STEM, there's a danger that such a feedback loop could cause them to decide that science isn't for them, deterring potential scientists from even entering a STEM field.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210920121807.htm