Becoming a Legitimate Scientist: Science Identity of Postdocs in STEM Fields

Plugging In: How One Graduate Program Shaped Doctoral Students’ Scholarly Identities as Interdisciplinary Scientists

“…There are multiple ways students build and demonstrate their scholarly identities. For instance, studies show students who demonstrated scholarly identities as scientists were those who 1) were competent in their understanding of scientific knowledge; 2) who recognized themselves and were recognized by others as legitimate scientists; and 3) who performed or engaged in the characteristic actions of their science identity on a regular basis (Baker & Pifer, 2011;Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Dollarhide, Gibson, & Moss, 2013;Hudson et al, 2018;Jazvac-Martek, 2009). The ability to make bids for external recognition and to perform scholarly identity takes place within the context of graduate learning experiences, such as joining research teams, presenting at academic conferences, publishing research in scholarly venues, and receiving mentorship from faculty members (McAlpine et al, 2014).…”

“…For example, certain disciplines may favor particular epistemological orientations that graduate students come to view as legitimate. Third, networks, such as the faculty members and peers with whom students interact, influence scholarly identity by role modeling certain types of scholarship or values (Baker & Lattuca, 2010;Inouye & McAlpine, 2017;Holley, 2015;Niehaus & O'Meara, 2015;McAlpine et al, 2014;Sweitzer, 2009) or by recognizing a scholar's performance of their identity (Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Hudson et al, 2018).…”

“…Scholarly identity development can be undermined when institutional cultures or norms do not affirm an individual's intellectual or scientific values (Baker & Lattuca, 2010;Lyall, 2019). They may experience identity dissonance when they lack the skills needed to fulfill their scholarly role (Baker & Lattuca, 2010;Hudson et al, 2018).…”

“…There are several reasons why graduate programs, particularly those seeking to train interdisciplinary researchers, should care about scholarly identity development for doctoral students. Students who enact, perform, and receive positive recognition for their scholarly identities may experience greater satisfaction with their doctoral programs, enhanced completion rates, a greater sense of purpose within their scholarly work, and higher persistence within scientific careers (Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Baker & Pifer, 2011Hudson et al, 2018). Thus, graduate programs that can help students nurture their scholarly identities may experience greater success at developing researchers who meet global, interdisciplinary scientific needs.…”

“…There is evidence (e.g., Carr et al, 2018;Gantogtokh & Quinlan, 2017;Gardner et al, 2012Gardner et al, , 2014Lindvig, 2018;Robinson, 2016) that conditions in many graduate programs and research institutions are not conducive to facilitating the scholarly identity development of interdisciplinary scientists. Students who fail to develop or receive recognition for their scholarly identities are at greater risk for leaving their programs or their field altogether (Baker & Pifer, 2011Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Hudson et al, 2018;Lyall, 2019;McAlpine, Amundsen, & Turner, 2014). Understanding how graduate students develop scholarly identities as interdisciplinary scientists is therefore important to furthering progress towards increased interdisciplinarity in research that occurs inside and outside of higher education.…”