Filter by author: Jocelyn Steinke

Despite prior research on portrayals of women in STEM in traditional media, fewer studies have considered portrayals on social media. This content analysis of Instagram posts (N=300) examined how individuals using the hashtag #WomenInSTEM presented their gender identity, STEM identity, and other social identities through digital self-portraits, selfies, and associated text. Results showed that those associating with this hashtag community primarily presented: 1) counter-gender-stereotyped portrayals, but occasionally reflected gender stereotypes in subtle ways; 2) STEM identity portrayals, mostly focused on self-recognition; and 3) self-promotional and lifestyle portrayals. Findings advance understanding of identity presentation and negotiation for individuals associating with the hashtag #WomenInSTEM through portrayals presented on Instagram. Implications for the use of social media to promote equity in STEM through outreach programs that feature women STEM role models are discussed.

YouTube videos offer a potentially useful vehicle for the communication of science, health, and medical information about COVID-19 to children. Findings from this research showed that primary characters appearing in children's educational YouTube videos about COVID-19 were most often adults, with about an equal number of men and women and few characters from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Primary characters frequently demonstrated and modeled protective health measures. Adult expert characters (medical professionals and scientists) appeared to some extent in these videos. Directive discourse frames appeared most frequently, followed by the informative and persuasive discourse frames when communicating scientific and health information. Changes in the use of informative, directive, and persuasive frames before and after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced guidelines on how to communicate about COVID-19 with children are explored.