Previous research has found gender inequitable equipment usage across various lab course contexts. Few studies, however, have tested possible remediation strategies. In this work, we use hierarchical linear modeling to compare men and women’s lab equipment usage in two group work structures across three course contexts. In one in-person course, students formed their own groups in class and rotated into new groups every unit. In the other two courses, one in person and one remote, students were assigned groups formed by the instructor and worked with the same group all semester. In line with former studies, we found gender inequitable equipment usage in the course with in-class formed, rotated groups. We did not observe gender inequitable equipment usage, however, in the course with instructor-assigned, fixed groups. Analyzing equipment usage across the semester within each course, our results suggest that this improvement comes from a combination of both instructor-assigned groups and keeping groups fixed for the semester. Our findings present many opportunities for subsequent controlled studies to probe these practices.