Research on Interventions that Encourage Minorities to Pursue Science Careers

Yolanda S. George,

Deputy Director, Education Programs

AAAS

In 2005, how many doctorates in biological sciences were awarded to

All U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents?

American Indians?

Black?

Mexican Americans?

Puerto Ricans?

Hispanics?

Asianss?

In 2005, how many doctorates in biological sciences were awarded to

All U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents? 4,141

American Indians? 3

Black? 142

Mexican Americans? 68

Puerto Ricans? 53

Hispanics? 207

Asians? 409

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)Robert Lent, University of Maryland College Park

Integrative theoretical framework that explores the psychological and social factors that produces personal interest and lead to choices related to education and careers

Also concerned with the network of factors that affect performance and persistence…in educational and career paths…and satisfaction in a particular job.

Drivers of educational and career choices – (a) Personal Interest, (b) Family Expectation and (c) Other External Factors

SCCT is based on Self-efficacy – people beliefs about their ability to perform specific behaviors or action (Albert Bandura, Stanford)

Four Sources

Prior performance (mastery or failure)

Observation of others (experiences or models)

Social messages (encourage or discourages)

Physiological or affective reaction (test anxiety)

Other Factors

Expectations surrounding particular outcomes

Goals that motivate people to produce a particular outcome

Other contextual factors and barriers—social, financial, environmental

Person input (race, gender, etc)

SCCT Implications for Intervention Program Strategies

Getting students to rethink areas that they might be able to do well at but have prematurely foreclosed

Clarifying career goals

Supporting career goals

Strengthening self-efficacy or student’s belief in their ability to perform

Instilling realistic outcome expectations

Managing environmental barriers and building effective support systems

Social Identity and Stereotype ThreatClaude Steele, Stanford University

Stereotype threat arises when a person is in a situation where negative stereotype applies

Each individual has multiple identities (age, race/ethnicity, sex, religion)

Cues in the environment that accentuate or lessen threats

Schools and other environments are different for people with different identities

If the cues changes, performance changes

Social Identity and Stereotype Threat Implications for Intervention Programs

Cues from leadership, faculty, and others

Critical mass of people with a certain identity

Discussions about race, intelligence, etc

http://ehrweb.aaas.org/sciMentoring/

What do we know from the STEM mentoring literature?

STEM career mentoring appears to be more prevalent in after-school programs for middle and high school students.

The level of systematic STEM career and workforce mentoring is not high in undergraduate research programs, or during the higher education years, or in postdoctoral fellowship programs.

Support networks for women (including students) in STEM areas in academia, industry, and government are useful in helping family/career balance, negotiating organizational or departmental challenges, and in career advancement.

What type of STEM mentoring research is needed?

More research is needed on cross-gender and cross-racial STEM mentoring and mentoring of disabled persons in STEM disciplines.

More STEM mentoring research linked to outcome measures is needed, such as entry into STEM college majors, time-to-degrees at all degree levels, types of college and university degrees earned, entry into STEM graduate majors, entry into STEM careers by sectors, and advancements in the STEM workforce.

More STEM mentoring studies that follow cohorts of students or scientists and engineers are needed.

What Workforce Skills STEM Students Should Know & Understand

Abstracts/posters

Oral presentations

Literature reviews

Formulate research questions

Select appropriate methods

Statistical/computational/quantitative skills

Prepare/review papers

The patent process

Intellectual property

Ethics

Best practices in teaching

Setting up/managing a lab

Budgets/Grant-writing

Science policy

Recommendations to STEM departments include:

Appoint a departmental mentoring committee to develop and implement a departmental mentoring plan with a particular emphasis on providing students with career information and opportunities to develop workforce skills;

Provide mentor training for faculty;Provide protégé training for students;Provide online mentoring resources or links to

resources for faculty and students; and,Assess and provide incentives for high quality

faculty mentoring.

Michael Nettles and Catherine Millet, Educational Testing ServiceThree Magic Letters: Getting to the PhD

Being a research assistant increases

Student’s interaction with faculty, faculty advisers, and peers

Their presenting papers and publishing articles

Overall research productivity

Having a Mentor influences

Social interaction between student and faculty

Scholarly publishing

Degree completion and time to degree

Research Productivity

Over half of the students surveyed had presented a paper at a conference, published a book chapter, etc. but lower for African American students

Completion Data:“Big Picture” Findings have Policy Implications

Nationally, Ph.D. completion probably higher than commonly thought (approx. 57% vs. 50%), but field differences create policy challenges

Some underrepresented groups are taking longer to complete than before, but not necessarily completing at lower rates

Overall differences in minority/majority completion rates are observable, but field differences in minority/majority completion rates are pronounced

Differences in Minority and Majority PhD Completion

 

Under-represented Minorities

Asian American

Majority (White) 

Difference between URM & Majority (White)

7-yr | 10-yr 7-yr | 10-yr 7-yr | 10-yr 7-yr | 10-yr

Engineering 46.4% | 58.7 % 45.7% | 53.6% 52.3% | 62.5% -5.9% | -3.8%

Life Sciences 43.4 % | 63.2% 45.2% | 55.9% 54.3% | 63.8% -10.9% | -0.6%

Physical Sciences & Mathematics 40.1% | 47.6% 41.8% | 52.3% 47.9% | 54.3% -7.9% | -6.7%

Social Sciences 31.2% | 48.6% 35.4% | 48.5% 41.1% | 55.4% -9.9% | -6.8%

Humanities 32.4% | 52.7% 33.1% | 55.4% 35.9% | 55.3% -3.5% | -2.6%

Source: Council of Graduate Schools, Ph.D Completion Project Data

Council of Graduate Schools www.cgsnet.org

Completion Rates and Timing by Race/Ethnicity and Broad Field

Cohort

Under-represented Minorities (Domestic)        

Native AmericanBlack/African

American HispanicAsian

AmericanMajority (White)

7-yr 10-yr 7-yr 10-yr 7-yr 10-yr 7-yr 10-yr 7-yr 10-yr

Engineering 69.2% 66.7% 38.1% 50.0% 52.2% 67.5% 45.7% 53.6% 52.3% 62.5%

Life Sciences 63.6% 100.0% 41.4% 59.5% 42.7% 63.0% 45.2% 55.9% 54.3% 63.8%

Physical Sciences/Math 54.6% 66.7% 36.4% 41.0% 45.6% 58.1% 41.8% 52.3% 48.0% 54.3%

Social Sciences 29.6% 20.0% 33.6% 50.7% 28.2% 48.2% 35.4% 48.5% 41.1% 55.4%

Humanities 29.2% 71.4% 34.7% 53.7% 28.1% 46.5% 33.1% 55.4% 35.9% 55.3%

Source: Council of Graduate Schools, Ph.D Completion Project Data

Council of Graduate Schools www.cgsnet.org

Other Research Areas

Effectiveness of undergraduate research in steering undergraduates toward graduate school

Effectiveness of teaching and curriculum (motivation, persistence, and problem solving ability)

Undergraduate and graduate institution transformation

Summary of Implications of Research for Intervention Programs

Examine faculty mentoring practice --- more of a focus on (a) research productivity, (b) strengthening students’ belief in their ability to perform, (c) helping them to continually clarify career goals and path

Examine the effectiveness of undergraduate research programs

Examine curriculum and teaching practices

***Academic preparation and support for students in core courses

***Course articulation with knowledge and skills needed during the graduate school years

Implications for Departments and Labs

Social Integration (Cues, environmental barriers)

Intellectual Integrations

Early detection of switchers and leavers

Attention to financial aid and debt burden

Attention to family/work balance

Data collection and evidence that programs and practices are working

Faculty professional development as related to mentoring, research on interventions, diversity, and data collection

Implications for Institutional Leaders

Diversity conscious policies and practices

Building a data collection infrastructure

Supporting departmental efforts