Title: Understanding Students’ Views of Science Identity Development
Science identity is composed of three key components, including competence (possessing scientific knowledge), performance (the capacity to use scientific tools and language in appropriate settings), and recognition (earning validation from others in the field) (Carlone & Johnson, 2007). The significance of a strong science identity is in shaping a student’s future behavior, such as intent to graduate and pursue a STEM career (Chang et al., 2011; Chemers et al., 2011), which is particularly important for those with notable retention challenges within STEM like women, underrepresented minorities, first generation, and rural students (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). The work of building students’ science identity and encouraging their development as emerging scholars and scientists relies on both classroom experiences and the form and quality of mentoring relationships with faculty (Kendricks et al., 2013). This study considers how students see their own science identity development, and which supports they believe most central to science identity. more »« less
McCallum, C; Libarkin, J; Vasquez, E; Webb, S; Sule, V; Choudhuri, D; Tornquist, W
(, The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching)
Dominguez, N
(Ed.)
There is clearly a retention issue in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for underrepresented groups (Estrada et al., 2016; Sithole et al., 2017). Although students leave STEM for many reasons (Bonous-Harmmath, 2000; Estrada et al., 2016; Gasiewski et al., 2012; Hurtado et al. 2011), one underlying and well documented cause is lack of attention to effective mentoring and student well-being, especially in graduate school (Becker et al., 2002). The paper presents a National Science Foundation sponsored mentoring program that prepares graduate students to become effective mentors while simultaneously providing them the necessary tools to advocate for themselves as mentees. In addition to mentoring, the program emphasizes the importance of mental and physical well-being. Evaluation results conclude that the program has improved students' sense of belonging on campus and provided them with support for navigating graduate school and socializing into careers.
Gloster, C.; McCullough, M.; Gowdy, G.; Bigsby, S.; Whittington, D.; Johnson-Taylor, J.
(, ASEE annual conference proceedings)
The importance of diversifying the national STEM workforce is well-established in the literature (Marrongelle, 2018). This need extends to graduate education in the STEM fields, leading N.C. A&T to invest considerably in graduate education and wraparound support initiatives that help graduate students build science identity and competencies for careers both within and beyond academia. The NSF-funded Bridges to the Doctorate project will integrate culturally reflective mentoring and professional development specifically designed for Black, Latinx, and Native American Ph.D. students. This holistic, graduate student development model includes academic and professional skill-building for STEM careers alongside targeted support for pursuing fellowship opportunities. This paper discusses the planned mentoring approach for the aforementioned program and previous approaches to mentoring graduate students used at N.C. A&T. The BD Fellows program will support formal and informal mentoring relationships, as mentoring contributes towards retention in STEM graduate programs (Ragins, 2007). BD Fellows will participate in monthly one-hour seminars on how to identify, establish, and maintain informal mentoring relationships (Schwartz et al., 2018; Parnes et al., 2020), while STEM faculty will attend seminars on leveraging their social networks as vital sources of mentorship for the BD Fellows. Using a multi-pronged collaborative approach, this model integrates the evidence-based domains of self-efficacy (Laurencelle & Scanlan, 2018; Lent et al., 1994; Lent et al., 2008), science/research identity (Lent et al., 2015; Zimmerman, 2000), and social cognitive career theory (Lent et al., 2005; Lent and Brown, 2006) to recruit, enroll, and graduate LSAMP Fellows with STEM doctoral degrees. Guided by the theories, the following questions will be addressed: (1) To what extent is culturally reflective mentoring identified as a critical driver of B2D Fellows’ success? (2) To what extent are the program’s training components fostering increases in B2D Fellow’s self-efficacy, competency, and science identity? (3) What is the strength of the correlation between participation in the program training components, mentoring activities, and persistence in graduate school? (4) To what extent does the perceived importance of self-efficacy, competency, and science identity differ by race/ethnicity and gender? These data will be analyzed using both formative and summative assessments of program outcomes. Quantitative data will include pre-, post-, and exit surveys. Qualitative data will assess the impact of mentoring and program support. This study will be guided by established protocols that have been approved by the N.C. A&T IRB. It is anticipated that our BD Fellows program will significantly impact the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minority STEM graduate students in our doctoral programs, thus producing a diverse workforce of STEM professionals. Materials from the program recruiting cycle, mentoring workshops, and the structured fellowship application process will be disseminated freely to other LSAMP and minority-serving institutions across the country. Strategies and outcomes of this project will be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared in conference proceedings.
Jessica Martin; Jana Roste; Austin T. Smith; Shane Michael Meyer; Emma G Cartisano; Emily Sandvall; Andrea Pouso Morales
(, 2022 First-Year Engineering Experience,)
Full Paper: Involvement, Identity, and Success in an NSF-funded STEM Access Program In the United States, attrition in STEM fields has been a point of growing concern. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded a variety of programs aimed at bolstering access and success for STEM students (National Academy of Sciences, 2011; Olson & Riordan, 2012). Though few access programs evaluate involvement, student success literature evidences a clear relationship between involvement and success (Astin, 1999; Mayhew et al., 2016). Accordingly, our phenomenological study explored how high-achieving, low-income STEM students in an NSF funded STEM Access Program at Baylor University perceive and experience involvement and success in light of their multiple identities. Baylor University’s ECS Scholars Program currently supports two cohorts of 11 students pursuing degrees in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. As a part of the program, Scholars are engaged in student and faculty mentoring which allows them to meaningfully connect with a support network. In addition, students attend monthly seminars designed to help support their success in and outside of the classroom. These students’ experiences were explored via 60 to 90-minute in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and themed by the research team. Alternate data collection methods—including campus mapping, photo elicitation, and identity wheel construction exercises—complemented interview data and added additional depth and insight to student statements. Our collective analysis revealed that, in essence, involvement is an arena in which high-achieving, low-income STEM students prioritize and live out salient identities in alignment with their understandings of success. Such findings inform recommendations concerning how faculty and staff may broaden and reframe understandings of involvement to more effectively support the success of STEM students in similar access programs.
Bright, D.; Sondergeld, T.; Fan, Y.; Fornaro, C.; Heverin, T.
(, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)
Existing literature has established that interpersonal and academic validating experiences help provide college students with the necessary personal and scholastic skillsets to thrive in higher education (e.g., Coronella, 2018; Ekal et al., 2011). This intrinsic mixed methods case study explores the extent to which undergraduate students perceived academic and interpersonal validation within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline program (CMSP) can empower students and influence their attitudes towards their learning environment.
MacGregor, KR; Wirth, KR; Davidson, CM; Myrbo, A
(, AGU Fall Meeting)
Identity and belonging are key components to student longevity in STEM and are particularly important for retaining BIPOC, low-income, and first generation students. Previous work emphasizes the importance of scientific competence, research performance, and recognition by scientific community members as key to building a STEM identity that persists (Carlone & Johnson, 2007), increasing the likelihood of retention into the STEM workforce. The Keck Geology Consortium REU, with funding from NSF, developed the Gateway program for rising sophomores in 2017 to support and build these three components of science identity for underrepresented undergraduates in the geosciences. Here we present stories from the Glacier National Park, Montana environmental geoscience Gateway project, alongside consortium-wide data, and consider ways in which scientific identity is developed. In summers 2018 and 2022 we brought together groups of 5-8 students, mostly from underrepresented groups, all of whom were finishing their first year of college. Students were from a variety of backgrounds and institutions, but primarily from SLACs, and had little/no prior research experience. Projects lasted 5 weeks, with one week of pre-field knowledge and skill development (competence) two weeks in the field in eastern Glacier National Park collecting data, and two weeks at the Continental Scientific Drilling (CSD) laboratory at the University of Minnesota analyzing sediment cores. Students presented their research at subsequent Geological Society of America meetings (performance and recognition). Survey results and anecdotal stories suggest all three key aspects of STEM identity-building were supported by the projects. In addition to identity and values activities at the project start, blogging and reflection activities supported development and integration of a science identity. Performance and recognition opportunities were threaded throughout; students shared their research with the public (Park visitors encountered in the field), with Park Rangers/Interpretive staff (during informal presentations), and with staff, students, and visiting scientists at the CSD (daily interactions in the lab). These less-official forms of performance and recognition greatly contributed to the students’ sense of ownership and expertise.
Pedersen, D. E. Understanding Students’ Views of Science Identity Development. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10387741. The chronicle of mentoring coaching 6.15
Pedersen, D. E. Understanding Students’ Views of Science Identity Development. The chronicle of mentoring coaching, 6 (15). Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10387741.
Pedersen, D. E.
"Understanding Students’ Views of Science Identity Development". The chronicle of mentoring coaching 6 (15). Country unknown/Code not available. https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10387741.
@article{osti_10387741,
place = {Country unknown/Code not available},
title = {Understanding Students’ Views of Science Identity Development},
url = {https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10387741},
abstractNote = {Science identity is composed of three key components, including competence (possessing scientific knowledge), performance (the capacity to use scientific tools and language in appropriate settings), and recognition (earning validation from others in the field) (Carlone & Johnson, 2007). The significance of a strong science identity is in shaping a student’s future behavior, such as intent to graduate and pursue a STEM career (Chang et al., 2011; Chemers et al., 2011), which is particularly important for those with notable retention challenges within STEM like women, underrepresented minorities, first generation, and rural students (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). The work of building students’ science identity and encouraging their development as emerging scholars and scientists relies on both classroom experiences and the form and quality of mentoring relationships with faculty (Kendricks et al., 2013). This study considers how students see their own science identity development, and which supports they believe most central to science identity.},
journal = {The chronicle of mentoring coaching},
volume = {6},
number = {15},
author = {Pedersen, D. E.},
}
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