Patching the Pipeline

Abstract

For more than 40 years, there has been a concerted national effort to promote diversity among the scientific research community. Yet given the persistent national-level disparity in educational achievements of students from various ethnic and racial groups, the efficacy of these programs has come into question. The current study reports results from a longitudinal study of students supported by a national National Institutes of Health–funded minority training program, and a propensity score matched control. Growth curve analyses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling show that students supported by Research Initiative for Science Excellence were more likely to persist in their intentions to pursue a scientific research career. In addition, growth curve analyses indicate that undergraduate research experience, but not having a mentor, predicted student persistence in science.

Mentoring Undergraduate Students

“…DeFreitas and Bravo (2012) did not find a relationship between informal faculty mentoring and academic achievement among underrepresented minority (URM) students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Similarly, a study of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) minority research training program by Schultz et al (2011) did not find a significant relationship between having a "scientific mentor" and student intentions and persistence in science (p. 101).…”

“…First, there are nationally funded programs, such as the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates, that allocate funds for UR at the institutional level (https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/). The purpose of these programs is to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in graduate education (Schultz et al, 2011) and to retain students in fields seen as needing more graduates, including STEM (Kendricks et al, 2013). Although undergraduate research experiences and corresponding mentorship have been situated predominantly in STEM fields, the importance of and interest in undergraduate research including best practices for mentors in other disciplines is increasing.…”

Perspectives on Chemical Oceanography in the 21st century: Participants of the COME ABOARD Meeting examine aspects of the field in the context of 40 years of DISCO

“…3) Provide opportunities for students in community colleges and minority-serving undergraduate institutions to gain research experience in Chemical Oceanography (e.g., undergraduate summer research programs that partner these institutions with research-focused institutions). Experience in other science fields (e.g., Hurtado et al, 2009;Schultz et al, 2011) indicates that such programs are important both to recruit underrepresented students to our field and to prepare them to apply for and succeed in Chemical Oceanography graduate programs.…”

Proxies for Success: How the Application Process Correlates to PhD Pursuit for a Small Diversity Research Program

“…Government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the NSF have addressed this education and workforce gap directly through funding of diversity research and science education programs, which are primarily focused on the recruitment and retention of URM in STEM. These programs vary from summer and academic-year research experiences to innovative STEM curricula in the classroom (Chaplin, Manske, & Cuise, 1998;Mervis, 2010;NRC, 2005;Schultz et al, 2011). Involvement in research has long been considered a key factor in retaining students in STEM (Bauer & Bennett, 2003;Russell, Hancock, & McCullough, 2007).…”