GENDER AND RACE: A STUDY OF SELF-EFFICACY IN PHYSICS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

Self-efficacy beliefs have recently been investigated in studies of physics teaching, and are relevant for studying the self-evaluation of individuals on perceived performance in specific tasks. We conducted an exploratory study with 170 students from the Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, in which they were asked to respond to the following question: “How does self-efficacy, in physics, of students from the Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará vary in the dimensions of gender identity and race/color?”. Results of applying the Sources of Self-Efficacy in Science Courses questionnaire, translated by us into Portuguese and revalidated with α = 0.94, indicate moderate mean differences in self-efficacy in physics, in favor of men, with these variations associated mainly with the source of vicarious experience.

SELF-EFFICACY; PHYSICS; GENDER RELATIONS; RACE