“That’s a great question!” instructors’ positive responses to students’ questions improve STEM-related outcomes

How instructors respond to students’ questions may serve as an important cue that shapes students’ self-perceptions and motivation. Across five studies, when participants imagined asking questions in a STEM context and receiving a positive (vs. neutral or negative) response from instructors, they felt greater self-efficacy and belonging, which predicted greater intentions to join the lab and to recruit other students. Positive verbal responses were effective regardless of whether they were directed toward participants or other students, occurred in public or private, in STEM or non-STEM settings, and when they came from warm/friendly versus cold/critical professors. Women especially benefitted from receiving positive instructor responses. Instructors’ positive responses to students’ questions may thus be a powerful cue that boosts students’ academic-related outcomes.