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1. Disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on marginalized and minoritized early-career academic scientists

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274278  

   Douglas, Hannah M.; Settles, Isis H.; Cech, Erin A.; Montgomery, Georgina M.; Nadolsky, Lexi R.; Hawkins, Arika K.; Ma, Guizhen; Davis, Tangier M.; Elliott, Kevin C.; Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence (September 2022, PLOS ONE)

   Grundy, Quinn (Ed.)

   Early research on the impact of COVID-19 on academic scientists suggests that disruptions to research, teaching, and daily work life are not experienced equally. However, this work has overwhelmingly focused on experiences of women and parents, with limited attention to the disproportionate impact on academic work by race, disability status, sexual identity, first-generation status, and academic career stage. Using a stratified random survey sample of early-career academics in four science disciplines ( N = 3,277), we investigated socio-demographic and career stage differences in the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic along seven work outcomes: changes in four work areas (research progress, workload, concern about career advancement, support from mentors) and work disruptions due to three COVID-19 related life challenges (physical health, mental health, and caretaking). Our analyses examined patterns across career stages as well as separately for doctoral students and for postdocs/assistant professors. Overall, our results indicate that scientists from marginalized (i.e., devalued) and minoritized (i.e., underrepresented) groups across early career stages reported more negative work outcomes as a result of COVID-19. However, there were notable patterns of differences depending on the socio-demographic identities examined. Those with a physical or mental disability were negatively impacted on all seven work outcomes. Women, primary caregivers, underrepresented racial minorities, sexual minorities, and first-generation scholars reported more negative experiences across several outcomes such as increased disruptions due to physical health symptoms and additional caretaking compared to more privileged counterparts. Doctoral students reported more work disruptions from life challenges than other early-career scholars, especially those related to health problems, while assistant professors reported more negative changes in areas such as decreased research progress and increased workload. These findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately harmed work outcomes for minoritized and marginalized early-career scholars. Institutional interventions are required to address these inequalities in an effort to retain diverse cohorts in academic science. 

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2. Course‐based undergraduate research experience impacts on student outcomes at minority‐serving community colleges

   https://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.21889  

   Zhang, Jing; DeChenne‐Peters, Sue_Ellen; Hecht, David; Wolyniak, Michael_J; Kuhn, Misty_L; Koletar, Courtney_M; Galport, Nicole; Eddy, Rebecca_M; Provost, Joseph; Bell, Jessica_K; et al (February 2025, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education)

   Abstract Course‐based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have beneficial impacts on students and the capacity to provide authentic research experiences that are accessible and beneficial to all students, especially those from Minoritized Groups. CUREs can be presented in a full semester format (cCURE) and shorter modules incorporated into laboratory courses (mCURE). In this study, protein‐centric CUREs were implemented at two minority‐serving Community Colleges (CCs) in introductory biology and chemistry courses. Using validated assessment tools, student self‐reported gains, and institutional data, we examined student outcomes in three conditions: control, mCURE, and cCURE courses. We also examined whether there was a differential impact on student outcomes by Minoritized Group status. Our findings show that students from Minoritized Groups have improved scientific literacy compared to their White/Asian peers in the cCUREs, whereas students from Minoritized Groups in the control course had lower relative scientific literacy. There was no significant difference in STEM Career Interest between the three conditions. Most significantly, the one‐year retention rate of students from the mCURE condition was 24% higher than that seen among control students. Furthermore, retention of students from Minoritized Groups in mCUREs was significantly higher than in control courses, whereas no significant difference was observed in White/Asian students. Taken together, these data suggest that CUREs can be an impactful practice in introductory courses at CCs, especially for students from Minoritized Groups. 

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3. Exploring Early Exits: Doctoral Attrition in the Biomedical Sciences

   https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025117736871  

   Maher, Michelle A.; Wofford, Annie M.; Roksa, Josipa; Feldon, David F. (August 2020, Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice)

   null (Ed.)

   High attrition rates have been a defining characteristic of doctoral education for decades, representing a loss of time, talent, and effort for departing students and their faculty. This qualitative study uses a biomedical science doctoral student sample to collect “real time” data on attrition within the first 2 years of doctoral training. Eighteen students, who represented 16 distinct universities, were interviewed as they engaged in the withdrawal process. Using the conceptual frames of socialization and social cognitive career theory, we explored experiences that preceded these students’ doctoral program withdrawals. Furthermore, we examined how expressed roles of students’ self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and professional goals contributed to the withdrawal process. Findings indicate that faculty advising (both positive and negative), laboratory rotation experiences, self-efficacy components, and changing professional goals all play a role in the early doctoral program attrition process. 

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4. Fly-CURE, a multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila , increases students' confidence, sense of belonging, and persistence in research

   https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00245-22  

   Merkle, Julie A.; Devergne, Olivier; Kelly, Seth M.; Croonquist, Paula A.; Evans, Cory J.; Hwalek, Melanie A.; Straub, Victoria L.; Hamill, Danielle R.; Peister, Alexandra; Puthoff, David P.; et al (September 2023, Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education)

   Wang, Jack (Ed.)

   The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster . To date, more than 20 mutants have been studied across 20 institutions, and our scientific data have led to eleven publications with more than 500 students as authors. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students’ perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data, collected over three academic years and involving 14 institutions and 480 students, show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents’ educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students’ efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific research community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences. 

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5. Support without Status: Inequities in Student–Advisor Relational Dynamics between First-Generation and Continuing-Generation Doctoral Students

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14050441  

   McCain, Jesse; Roksa, Josipa; Breen, Stephanie (May 2024, Education Sciences)

   One of the most important developmental relationships in the doctoral student experience is that of the faculty advisor, and yet we know little about whether and how advisor relationships vary between first-generation and continuing-generation doctoral students. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 83 late-stage doctoral students in biological sciences, we explore differences in student perceptions of their relationships with advisors. Narratives reveal a continuum of relationship types, including strained, evolving, supportive, and equal. In equal relationships, doctoral students feel more like collegial partners working alongside their advisors. While continuing-generation and first-generation students are similarly represented among strained and evolving relationships, first-generation students rarely attain equal relationship status. The presented findings offer implications for understanding how inequality shapes student–advisor relationships, the role of collegiality in doctoral education’s hidden curriculum, and the supports needed to foster equity for first-generation students in graduate programs. 

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