Gina Frey, Professor of Chemistry, Ron and Eileen Ragsdale Endowed Chair in Chemical Education, noted “Our studies in general chemistry 1 (GC1) have shown that social belonging predicts course performance for all students and belonging differs across gender. In our current study, for students whose major required both General Chemistry 1 and 2 (GC2), GC1 performance alone did not explain student persistence to GC2. For example, for women having GC1 grades in the B range, the novel factor of uncertainty in belonging predicted their lack of persistence to GC2. Women also still reported having a higher belonging uncertainty than men at the beginning of GC2, regardless of their GC1 grade. These findings add to the literature highlighting the importance of instructors including belonging as a course goal and creating a welcoming classroom by implementing inclusive teaching practices throughout both GC1 and GC2.

Her recent paper was highlighted in ACS Publications this week.

Congrats Gina!

Read the article here!