Table 1 Research questions and hypotheses

1. Did women experience less social belonging and more belonging uncertainty in physics courses than men?

1. Women will report less belonging in the course than men.

(No gender differences will emerge for belonging at the university level)

2. Are there gender differences in physics identification before and after students take an introductory physics course?

2. Men will identify more with the field of physics than women both before and after completing an introductory physics course.

3. Are there gender differences in FCI scores and physics grades?

3a. Men will earn higher course grades than women.

3b. Men will acquire more knowledge in the physics course than women.

4. To what extent does physics identification predict various achievement outcomes at the end of the term?

4a. Controlling for pre-term physics knowledge (FCI scores), higher physics identification at the end of the term will be related to more physics knowledge.

4b. Controlling for pre-term physics knowledge (FCI scores), higher physics identification at the end of the term will be related to higher physics course grades.

5. To what extent does academic achievement predict STEM identification at the end of the term?

5a. Controlling for pre-term physics knowledge (FCI scores), higher physics knowledge scores will predict higher physics identification at the end of the term.

5b. Controlling for pre-term physics knowledge (FCI scores), higher physics grades will predict higher physics identification at the end of the term.

6. Does STEM identification predict gains in student flourishing over time, particularly for women?

6. Students who highly identify with physics show gains in flourishing compared to low identifiers, and this relationship may be moderated by gender such that the relationships would be most pronounced for women.