Training Future Scientists:Factors Predicting Underrepresented

Minority Student Participation in Undergraduate Research

Sylvia Hurtado, M. Kevin Eagan, Nolan L. Cabrera,Monica H. Lin, Julie J. Park, & Miguel Lopez

Higher Education Research InstituteUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Association for Institutional Research ForumKansas City, MO | June 4, 2007

Background

Demographic shift: Increasing number of underrepresented minority (URM) students entering college

Narrow URM pipeline to graduate science programs

Acculturation into science majors via research

Issues and Challenges

Attrition rates of science majors Benefits of undergraduate research

URM-specific retention & academic achievement Increased graduate school enrollment Student-faculty interaction & mentorship

Importance of the first year of college

Conceptual Framework

Individual Goal commitment and academic engagement

Collective/social Institutional agents and peer networks

Structural Institutional context and student outcomes

Research Questions

What are the key individual, social, and structural factors facilitating or reducing students’ likelihood of participating in a health science research program in their first year of college?

How can institutions improve efforts to recruit, retain, and graduate greater numbers of successful URM scientific researchers?

Data and Sample

Data Source HERI’s 2004 Cooperative Institutional Research Program

(CIRP) Freshman Survey and 2005 Your First College Year (YFCY) Survey

Both survey administrations yielded over 26,000 students at 203 four-year institutions

Weighted to correct for non-response bias Sample

Final analytic sample: 3,095 students at 129 institutions URM science majors White/Asian American science majors

Variables

Dependent Variable: Participated in a health science research program

Goal Commitment/ Psychological Sense of Integration Success at Managing Academic Environment (alpha = 0.78) Sense of Belonging (alpha = 0.84) Social Self-Concept (alpha = 0.73) Academic Self-Concept (alpha = 0.60) Degree aspirations

Variables (continued)

Social Networks Interactions with advisors, TAs, and faculty Course and program participation Seeking advice from first-year peers and upper-class peers Work on/off campus

Environmental Pulls Institutional Characteristics

Size Selectivity Resources Control Offer first-year research programs in health sciences

Analyses

Descriptive statistics Preliminary logistic regression Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling

Appropriate for dichotomous outcome Most robust analysis for multi-level, clustered data Variables centered around the grand mean Variables entered in temporally aligned,

conceptually related blocks Two models: Full sample and a sub-sample of

868 Black students, 67 institutions

Descriptive Statistics

12% of sample participated in health science research program

32% White, 31% Black, 21% Latina/o, 11% Asian American, 4% American Indian

77% female 38% planned for a Ph.D. vs. 40% for an M.D. 15% participated in a high school research

program

Full Sample Health Science Research Model

Variable Odds Ratio

Background Characteristics

Black ─*

Plan to live on campus +*

College Experiences and Social Networks

Enrolled in first-year experience course +***

Joined a pre-professional/departmental club +***

Frequency: received advice from juniors and seniors +*

Frequency: student-faculty interactions +*

Belief that family responsibilities interfere with college +*

Institutional Characteristics

Institutional size +*

Offer health science research to first-year students +**

Explained Variance 0.07

Note: The full sample includes 3,095 students from 129 institutions.

Black Student Health Science Research Model

Variable Odds Ratio

Goal Commitment, Psychological Sense of Integration, and Campus Perceptions

Social self-concept +**

Aspire for Ph.D. n.s.

College Experiences and Social Networks

Participated in learning community +*

Frequency: received advice from juniors and seniors +**

Frequency: positive cross-racial interactions +*

Environmental Pull

Extent of financial concerns ─*

Institutional Characteristics

Offer health science research to first-year students +*

HBCU n.s.

Explained Variance 0.14

Note: The Black sub-sample includes 868 students from 67 institutions.

Health Science Research Program Characteristics

Program Component % Offering Program

Component

Paid Positions 63%

Volunteer Positions 76%

Independent Study Credit 67%

Faculty Mentorship 88%

Peer Mentorship 60%

Preparation for Medical School 75%

Preparation for Graduate School 87%

Financial Support for Program Participants 82%

Presentation Opportunities 93%Source: Online survey of Freshman and YFCY Survey participating institutions, Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA

Characteristics of Institutions Offering Health Science Research Programs

Variable

Does Not

Offer Program Offers Program

HSI 67%

HBCU 65%

PWI 67%

University 70%

College 35%

Public 67%

Private 64%

Means

Average Selectivity (SAT composite) 1,074 1,130

Average FTE Enrollment 11,118 13,617

Average Revenue per FTE Student $26,388 $33,373 Source: IPEDS data merged with online survey of Freshman and YFCY Survey participating

institutions, Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA

Discussion

Structure of opportunity Pragmatic concerns met by research

experience Goal commitments & engagement factors Peer networks/social capital

Implications for Practice

Use of upper-division students Outreach directly to communities of color Promote financial benefits Promoting cross-racial interactions

This study was made possible by the support of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant Number 1 RO1 GMO71968-01. This independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by the sponsor.

For more information on the project

and copies of the paper:

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