MATH ANXIETY, EFFICACY, AND GEOSCIENCE INTEREST IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN INTRODUCTORY GEOSCIENCE CLASSES

Math attitudes are related to success in science but have not been explored in geoscience. Students with positive attitudes toward math have higher math performance and interest in STEM disciplines (Ahmed, 2018; Barroso et al., 2021). To recruit, retain, and graduate more students in geoscience, students’ math attitudes are critical factors to explore. This may be particularly true for marginalized students (i.e., women, who often hold more negative math attitudes than men; Luttenberger et al, 2018). Women’s attitudes toward math are likely partly responsible for the lower number of women in STEM. Math self-efficacy and math anxiety show consistent gender differences as well as strong relationships with other STEM disciplines. This exploratory research seeks to answer the questions: What is the relationship between math anxiety, math self-efficacy, geoscience self-efficacy, and geoscience interest? Are there gender differences in these relationships?

Our sample included 245 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory geoscience courses at three colleges/universities in the US. As part of a larger study, participants completed a series of surveys as baseline measures, including measures of math anxiety, math self-efficacy, geoscience self-efficacy, and geoscience interest. Students received course credit for their completion of the surveys, but only those who provided consent were included in subsequent data analysis.

Pearson correlations showed that math anxiety, math self-efficacy, geoscience self-efficacy, and geoscience interest are significantly related to one another, particularly for women. Students with high math anxiety are more likely to have low geoscience self-efficacy and interest. A hierarchical regression showed that while geoscience self-efficacy is the strongest predictor of geoscience interest, math self-efficacy significantly predicts interest, again, particularly for women.

These findings provide valuable insight into students' math attitudes within the geoscience classroom. These findings can guide future research on math attitudes, and not just knowledge, as a barrier to student success in college-level geoscience classes. In addition, these findings shed light on math as a barrier for women in geoscience.