Evaluating the Experiences of Different Identity Groups in a General Chemistry Course

General chemistry is a gateway course that students from several STEM-related majors take at the beginning of their college careers. Faced with high attrition rates of students in STEM fields and even higher rates for groups minoritized due to gender and ethnicity/race, this study explored how a general chemistry course influenced students’ interests in chemistry. CHEM 1 and CHEM 2 students’ perceptions of science before taking a general chemistry course and the evolution of their perceptions of chemistry over a semester were explored. Data were collected using pre- and postsurveys and analyzed based on race/ethnic and gender groups. The results showed both CHEM 1 and 2 students held generally positive views toward science at the beginning of the semester, regardless of race/ethnicity. Toward the end of the semester, more CHEM 1 students had positive perceptions of chemistry compared to CHEM 2 students, with students from minoritized groups indicating more negative perceptions of chemistry than their nonminoritized counterparts. Even though female students and students from groups minoritized due to race/ethnicity are entering their general chemistry course with similar perceptions of science and belief in their abilities, they are leaving these courses with more negative perceptions and lower confidence in their abilities compared to other student groups. The main factors influencing students’ perceptions were the course instructors, teaching assistants, and the course structure. We hope these findings can shed light on future pedagogies in general chemistry to help improve students’ perceptions of chemistry, which can increase students’ success and persistence rates in science-related fields, including chemistry.