HERI Brown Bag Improving the Rate of Success for Underrepresented Racial Minorities in the Biological and Behavioral Sciences: Insights from a National Project

NSF/NIH Research TeamFebruary 12, 2009

Targeted Institutions and Participants

Minority serving institutions (MSIs)Institutions that produce large numbers of

minority baccalaureates in the sciences (Top 50)MARC/MBRS/MORE/PREP program institutions

—includes PWIs and MSIsOther types of institutions to round out the

sample (liberal arts colleges, private universities)Three-part matched sample: URM students in

STEM, White & Asian American students in STEM, and URM students in non-STEM majors

Research Plan: Key Components Completed

CIRP Freshman Survey (Summer/Fall 2004)

YFCY End of First Year Survey--160 institutions in working sample (Spring 2005)

Classroom-based surveys of introductory courses at 5 institutions in Year 3 (2006-2007)

Campus Case Studies: Focus groups and institutional site visits at 5 institutions in Year 3 (2006-2007).

Four-year follow-up: College Senior Survey in Year 4 (2007-2008)

Non-response recovery of CSS in Year 5 (2008-2009)

Best Practices Survey in Year 5

Focus groups and post-baccalaureate survey development in Year 6 (2009-2010)

Post-baccalaureate survey (PBS) in Year 7 (2010-2011)

Telephone response recover of PBS in Year 8 (2011-2012)

Research Plan: Key Components To Come

Positive predictors of participation in health science research include: Taking first-year experience courses Participating in departmental clubs Receiving advice from upper-division students Having frequent interactions/contact with faculty Attending an institution that offers a structured research

opportunity for first-year studentsSub-sample of Black students showed similar results,

yet social self-concept, participation in a learning community, and positive interactions across race/ethnicity were key

Phase II: First-year follow-up (YFCY) - Predictors of participating in health science research (published in RHE)

Phase II: First-Year Follow-Up: Stereotype Threat: Undermining the Persistence of Racial Minority Freshmen in the Sciences

Examined how the interaction of stigmatizing experiences and identification with a biomedical and behavioral science (BBS) majors affects the likelihood of persisting in a BBS major through the first year

Analyses – HGLM, factor analyses, interaction effectsResults show URM freshmen more susceptible to

negative effects of stereotype threat (reported high levels of both domain identification and stigma-inducing experiences) were significantly less likely to persist in their initial science major

Phase II: First-Year Follow-Up: Stereotype Threat: Undermining the Persistence of Racial Minority Freshmen in the Sciences

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

Low Medium High

Domain Identification

Lik

elih

oo

d o

f S

cien

ce M

ajo

r P

ersi

sten

ce

Low Frequency of Stigma-InducingExperiences

Moderate Frequency of Stigma-Inducing Experiences

High Frequency of Stigma-InducingExperiences

Phase II: First-Year Follow-Up: Developing Student and Faculty Support Networks Preliminary Findings

BackgroundCharacteristics

(demographics)

HSAcademics

HSSocial activities

CollegeAcademics

College SocialActivities

Participationin first-year programs

Faculty andstudent support

networks

CollegeCharacteristics

Phase II: First-Year Follow-Up: Developing Student and Faculty Support Networks Preliminary Findings (Student Support)

Order of importance White/Asian students URM students

1Hours per week spent socializing with friends

Discussing course content with students outside class

2Discussing course content with students outside class

Hours per week spent socializing with friends

3Hours per week spent in student clubs/groups

Cross-racial interactions

4 Cross-racial interactionsHours per week spent in student clubs/groups

5Interacting with academic advisors

Attending an MSI

6Taking first-year seminar course

Agreement that faculty are interested in students' personal problems

Phase II: First-Year Follow-Up: Developing Student and Faculty Support Networks Preliminary Findings (Faculty Support)

Order of importance White/Asian students URM students

1 Interacting w/ academic advisors Interacting w/ academic advisors

2Faculty are interested in students’ personal problems

Faculty are interested in students’ personal problems

3Faculty are interested in students’ academic problems

Faculty are interested in students’ academic problems

4Worked with an academic advisor to select courses

Worked on a professor’s research project

5Joined pre-professional or departmental club

Received negative feedback about academic work

Phase III:Classroom Based Study – Classroom Questionnaires

Classroom Questionnaires (pre & post):

Two online surveys focused on critical thinking dispositions and habits of mind for scientific research

Sample consisted of 2-3 introductory science/math courses per campusTargeted approximately 2,400 undergraduates

currently enrolled in introductory science coursePre-Survey response rate of 26%Longitudinal response rate of 44% (pre-survey as

baseline)Merged final grades with survey data

Effects on GPALearning to think more analytically (+)Feeling overwhelmed by coursework (-)Bring an underrepresented minority student (-)

Effects on “thinking like a scientist”Saw real-life application of learning (+)Inquisitiveness (+)Truth-seeking (+)Feeling overwhelmed by coursework (-)

Phase III: Classroom Based Study Preliminary Findings

Becoming a scientistIn the teaching lab…I mean, you run an experiment

and it always works. It’s so nice. It always works. You take biochem lab, you take genetics lab, and you do it, and man, it’s going to work. It’s been done 50,000 times in the lab… People who have never been in a research lab, I think the first time your experiment fails, it’s kind of like a shock to everyone. It’s kind of like, “What?” Yeah, it makes you learn how to think… (UTSA female)

Phase III: Campus Site VisitsDiversifying Science: Underrepresented Student Experiences in Structured Research Programs

Findings: Becoming a Scientist (cont.)

Scientific self-efficacy through research I had a good experience with my PIs [principal

investigators] just because they made me feel like…as an undergrad, you kind of feel like on the bottom of the food chain and they kind of believe in you and say, “Yes, you can do this. I’m giving you this project to do and I know you can do it.” So it kind of builds your confidence and just them believing in you makes you feel like you can actually complete the project because you can. (UNM female)

Phase III: Campus Site VisitsBecoming a Scientist (continued)

Collaborative It seems like at Xavier, the people have a mentality…like

the sharing mentality, so if you’re not…if you don’t share or if you’re not…if you’re thinking about number one, they kind of shun you to the side. I mean, because everyone else is in the group and [if] you think you can work better on your own, we’ll let you work on your own. That’s how it is here. (Xavier female)

Competitive …you start getting to know everyone in the department or in

the classes that you’re taking, so you’re almost embarrassed to do poorly in class, so you work harder. Like you’re driven to work harder because you want to be a good student and you want to succeed. (UNM female)

Phase III: Campus Site VisitsCulture of Science

Racial stigma and research opportunities I worked with an Anglo girl who was there and basically

paid her way there and the only reason she was there is because she knew someone who knew someone, and I told her, “Oh, I’m in this…minority summer research program,” and she’s like, “Yeah, well, you’re lucky you’re a minority, you could say that on a piece of paper so you could get in.” (UNM female)

Racial stigma and scientific self-efficacy [B]ecause I am a minority student, I feel as if I need the

validation. Anybody else would not need it. You know, nobody else has this feeling of, “You know what? My opinions aren’t going to be listened to…unless I get the PhD.” (MIT male)

Phase III: Campus Site VisitsSocial Stigma

Administrator interviews (two to four per campus) Interviews covered areas relating to program administration,

student recruitment, and campus support for programs Participants included program administrators and affiliated

faculty Culture of Science

The academic/research environment in which science is conducted at the institution

Preliminary findings reveal that URM students' perceptions of competitive environments negatively impact persistence in the major and grad. school aspirations

“It’s so competitive here that if anybody has a little bit of information that will give them a leg up, they won’t share it with [other students].”

“I knew it was competitive. Everybody wants to get into graduate school, medical school, get a job... You have no idea… It’s so competitive that it’s borderline cutthroat... It’s interesting, the campus culture that is around now in 2007. It’s a lot different than when I was here in the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

Phase III: Campus Site VisitsAdministrator Interviews – Preliminary Findings

Phase IV: College Senior Survey and Faculty Survey

Summer/Fall 2007 Finalized instruments and protocols Recruited and confirm participation of institutions

Spring 2008 Administered the College Senior Survey

Summer and Fall 2008 Expanded project sample to include science, technology,

engineering and math majors with additional funding from NSF

Collected registrar’s data from more than 200 institutions Administered 2007 Faculty Survey to supplemental sample

of STEM faculty at our participating institutions (6,636 STEM faculty responded from 205 institutions)

Longitudinal sample (Freshman Survey and CSS) 6,373 students at 240 institutions

Collect student enrollment/completion data from the National Student Clearing House

Create response weights for the CSSCreate factors from CSS and Faculty

Survey for key constructs of interestAdminister the Best Practices Survey to

participating institutions

Next Steps for the Coming Year

Academic Papers

The pre-college characteristics and experiences of minority students committed to scientific research careers (2006). Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 12, 61-83.

Predicting transition and adjustment to college: Minority biomedical and behavioral science students’ first year of college. (2007) Research in Higher Education, 48(7), 841-887.

Training future scientists: Predicting first-year minority student participation in health science research. Research in Higher Education. (2008). Research in Higher Education, 49(2), 126-152.

The contradictory roles of institutional status in retaining underrepresented minorities in biomedical and behavioral science majors. (2008). The Review of Higher Education, 31(4), 433-464.

Diversifying science: Underrepresented student experiences in structured research programs. (2009). Research in Higher Education, 50(2), 189-214.

RESOURCES & Project Staff

Papers and reports are available for download from project website

Project email: herinih@ucla.edu

RESEARCH STAFFSylvia Hurtado, Co-PIMitch Chang, Co-PI

Graduate Research AssistantsKevin EaganLorelle EspinosaMonica LinChristopher NewmanJessica SharknessMinh TranPaolo Velasco

Administrative SupportAaron PearlProject website:

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/nih