Group Work Anxiety and STEM Identity: Exploring the Role of Gender, Mental Health, and Neurodevelopmental Differences

In undergraduate STEM programs, students typically develop their teamwork and communication skills by working in groups to solve problems, complete projects, and conduct laboratory experiments. While such active learning exercises positively impact the achievement and retention of students, they can also be a significant source of anxiety, especially for those with identities marginalized in STEM (e.g., women, racial/ethnic minorities, mental health differences). Yet, these demographic factors have not commonly been considered when designing and evaluating such exercises. To address this gap, we collected survey data exploring the ways students feel about working in groups and analyzed how identity characteristics and factors related to achievement. Our findings revealed significant relationships between anxiety regarding group work, STEM identity, and the interaction of gender and mental health (including psychosocial distress and neurodevelopmental differences) upon academic performance. Female students reported higher levels of group work anxiety and lower STEM identity compared to their male counterparts. Similarly, students with mental health conditions experienced elevated group work anxiety and lower STEM identity. This is particularly concerning since stronger STEM identity is related to higher academic performance. Our findings suggest an urgent need for chemical educators to carefully design group work experiences in consideration of both visible and invisible student identities, taking into consideration potential impacts of psychosocial stress and neurodevelopmental differences, especially since introductory chemistry courses act as gateway courses for most STEM majors.