Students’ perspectives on the ‘STEM belonging’ concept at A-level, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels: an examination of gender and ethnicity in student descriptions

International Journal of STEM Education

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of questionnaire respondents (N = 290)

Variables	Description	N	%
Gender	Female	141	48.6
	Male	130	44.8
	Non-binary	11	3.8
	Prefer not to say Other	6 2	2.1 0.7
Age
	Below 18- 19 years old	115	43.1
	20–21 years old	96	33.1
	> 21 years old	69	23.8
Ethnicity
	White-English/British/ Welsh/ Scottish/ Northern Irish	181	62.4
	White-Irish	8	2.8
	Any other White background	40	13.8
	Mixed/multiple-White and Black Caribbean	3	1.0
	Mixed/multiple-White and Black African	1	0.3
	Mixed/multiple-White and Asian	9	3.1
	Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background	8	2.8
	Asian/Asian British-Indian	9	3.1
	Asian/Asian British-Pakistani	4	1.4
	Asian/Asian British-Bangladeshi	1	0.3
	Asian/Asian British-Chinese	12	4.1
	Any other Asian background	5	1.7
	Black and Black British-Black British	1	0.3
	Black and Black British-African	3	1.0
	Any other Black background	1	0.3
	Other	2	0.7
	Prefer not to say	2	0.7
University
	University of Oxford	71	24.5
	University of Birmingham	95	32.8
	Durham University	124	42.8
Education Level	A-level	28	9.7
	Bachelor’s degree	170	58.6
	Masters	46	15.9
	PhD candidate	43	14.8
	Prefer not to say	3	1%
Current year of study
	First Year	99	34.1
	Second Year	66	22.8
	Third Year	56	19.3
	Fourth Year	41	14.1
	A-level	28	9.7
Academic discipline
	Department of Mathematical Science	83	28.6
	Department of Chemistry	112	38.6
	Department of Physics	95	32.8
First generation
	Yes	66	22.8
	No	188	64.8
	Prefer not to say	32	11.1
	Other	4	1.4
Considered leaving university without completing
	Never	122	42.1
	Just once	43	14.8
	Sometimes	77	26.6
	Frequently	17	5.9
	Prefer not to say	31	10.7