Self-Efficacy and Resilience: Latinas in STEM Majors

Despite various initiatives to enhance diversity in STEM disciplines, women and minorities remain underrepresented (Gonzalez et al., 2021, Chapter 5). Higher education institutions can help enhance gender and racial equity in STEM disciplines in the U.S. (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine, 2011). This study’s purpose was to investigate self-efficacy and resilience based on traditional (25 and less) and non-traditional (26 and higher) age ranges and ancestral regions. In this mixed-methods study, 36 STEM major Latinas from a mid-sized comprehensive university in South Texas answered a survey, and ten Latina STEM-major students participated in semi-structured individual interviews. The Generalized Self-Efficacy and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scales were administered to participants. According to the findings of this study, there is a statistically significant relationship between self-efficacy and resilience based on age range. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between self-efficacy and resilience and ancestral region.