UNWELCOME STUDENT BEHAVIORS IN THE UNDERGRADUATE STEM CLASSROOM: IMPLICATIONS FOR STEM INSTRUCTORS AND CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

STEM classroom instruction can be viewed as a two-sided coin, where one side represents students’ learning environment and the other side represents instructors’ teaching environment. A large and ever-growing body of research literature exists on the cognitive, social, and physical conditions in the classroom that lead to conducive learning environments for college students (e.g., Baldwin, 2009; Basham & Marino, 2013; Piper & Krehbiel, 2015). There is, however, a notable lack in comparable research literature on the conditions that lead to or impede an environment for instructors that is conducive to teaching. To help fill this gap in knowledge, this study pursues the research questions: What types of unwelcome student behaviors do STEM instructors encounter in the classroom? Are there any correlations between these behaviors and instructor demographics? How do these behaviors impact instructors and their teaching?

To answer these questions a survey was developed and administered to over 300 faculty members at one major public university. The survey was designed based on the findings of an integrative literature review grounded in Einarsen’s (2000) theoretical framework for workplace bullying and harassment and 30 interviews. The survey addresses 12 different types of unwelcome behaviors and a variety of instructor demographics. This presentation will discuss the survey findings for White male instructors, White female instructors, non-White male instructors, and not-White female instructors in STEM fields that they identified as being traditionally male dominated. The presentation concludes with implications and recommendations for effectively supporting all STEM instructors of undergraduate students.