Research on Interventions that Encourage
Minorities to Pursue Science Careers
Yolanda S. George,
Deputy Director, Education Programs
AAAS
In 2005, how many doctorates in biological sciences were
awarded to
 All U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents?
 American Indians?
 Black?
 Mexican Americans?
 Puerto Ricans?
 Hispanics?
 Asianss?
In 2005, how many doctorates in biological sciences were
awarded to
 All U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents? 4,141
 American Indians? 3
 Black? 142
 Mexican Americans? 68
 Puerto Ricans? 53
 Hispanics? 207
 Asians? 409
Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)
Robert Lent, University of Maryland College Park
 Integrative theoretical framework that explores the
psychological and social factors that produces personal
interest and lead to choices related to education and careers
 Also concerned with the network of factors that affect
performance and persistence…in educational and career
paths…and satisfaction in a particular job.
 Drivers of educational and career choices – (a) Personal
Interest, (b) Family Expectation and (c) Other External Factors
SCCT is based on Self-efficacy – people beliefs about their
ability to perform specific behaviors or action (Albert Bandura,
Stanford)
Four Sources
 Prior performance (mastery or failure)
 Observation of others (experiences or models)
 Social messages (encourage or discourages)
 Physiological or affective reaction (test anxiety)
Other Factors
 Expectations surrounding particular outcomes
 Goals that motivate people to produce a particular outcome
 Other contextual factors and barriers—social, financial,
environmental
 Person input (race, gender, etc)
SCCT Implications for Intervention Program Strategies
 Getting students to rethink areas that they might be
able to do well at but have prematurely foreclosed
 Clarifying career goals
 Supporting career goals
 Strengthening self-efficacy or student’s belief in their
ability to perform
 Instilling realistic outcome expectations
 Managing environmental barriers and building
effective support systems
Social Identity and Stereotype Threat
Claude Steele, Stanford University
 Stereotype threat arises when a person is in a
situation where negative stereotype applies
 Each individual has multiple identities (age,
race/ethnicity, sex, religion)
 Cues in the environment that accentuate or lessen
threats
 Schools and other environments are different for
people with different identities
 If the cues changes, performance changes
Social Identity and Stereotype Threat
Implications for Intervention Programs
 Cues from leadership, faculty, and others
 Critical mass of people with a certain identity
 Discussions about race, intelligence, etc
http://ehrweb.aaas.org/sciMentoring/
What do we know from the STEM mentoring literature?
 STEM career mentoring appears to be more prevalent in afterschool programs for middle and high school students.
 The level of systematic STEM career and workforce mentoring is
not high in undergraduate research programs, or during the
higher education years, or in postdoctoral fellowship programs.
 Support networks for women (including students) in STEM areas
in academia, industry, and government are useful in helping
family/career balance, negotiating organizational or departmental
challenges, and in career advancement.
What type of STEM mentoring research is needed?
 More research is needed on cross-gender and cross-racial
STEM mentoring and mentoring of disabled persons in STEM
disciplines.
 More STEM mentoring research linked to outcome measures is
needed, such as entry into STEM college majors, time-todegrees at all degree levels, types of college and university
degrees earned, entry into STEM graduate majors, entry into
STEM careers by sectors, and advancements in the STEM
workforce.
 More STEM mentoring studies that follow cohorts of students or
scientists and engineers are needed.
What Workforce Skills STEM Students Should
Know & Understand
 Abstracts/posters
 The patent process
 Oral presentations
 Intellectual property
 Literature reviews
 Ethics
 Formulate research
questions
 Best practices in
teaching
 Select appropriate
methods
 Setting up/managing
a lab
 Statistical/computational/
quantitative skills
 Budgets/Grantwriting
 Prepare/review papers
 Science policy
Recommendations to STEM departments
include:
 Appoint a departmental mentoring committee to
develop and implement a departmental mentoring
plan with a particular emphasis on providing
students with career information and opportunities
to develop workforce skills;
 Provide mentor training for faculty;
 Provide protégé training for students;
 Provide online mentoring resources or links to
resources for faculty and students; and,
 Assess and provide incentives for high quality
faculty mentoring.
Michael Nettles and Catherine Millet, Educational Testing Service
Three Magic Letters: Getting to the PhD
Being a research assistant increases
 Student’s interaction with faculty, faculty advisers, and peers
 Their presenting papers and publishing articles
 Overall research productivity
Having a Mentor influences
 Social interaction between student and faculty
 Scholarly publishing
 Degree completion and time to degree
Research Productivity
 Over half of the students surveyed had presented a paper at a
conference, published a book chapter, etc. but lower for African
American students
Completion Data:
“Big Picture” Findings have Policy Implications



Nationally, Ph.D. completion probably higher
than commonly thought (approx. 57% vs. 50%),
but field differences create policy challenges
Some underrepresented groups are taking
longer to complete than before, but not
necessarily completing at lower rates
Overall differences in minority/majority
completion rates are observable, but field
differences in minority/majority completion rates
are pronounced
Differences in Minority and
Majority PhD Completion
Underrepresented
Minorities
Asian
American
Majority
(White)
Difference
between URM &
Majority (White)
7-yr | 10-yr
7-yr | 10-yr
7-yr | 10-yr
7-yr | 10-yr
Engineering
46.4% | 58.7 %
45.7% | 53.6%
52.3% | 62.5%
-5.9% | -3.8%
Life Sciences
43.4 % | 63.2%
45.2% | 55.9%
54.3% | 63.8%
-10.9% | -0.6%
Physical
Sciences &
Mathematics
40.1% | 47.6%
41.8% | 52.3%
47.9% | 54.3%
-7.9% | -6.7%
Social Sciences
31.2% | 48.6%
35.4% | 48.5%
41.1% | 55.4%
-9.9% | -6.8%
Humanities
32.4% | 52.7%
33.1% | 55.4%
35.9% | 55.3%
-3.5% | -2.6%
Source: Council of Graduate Schools, Ph.D Completion Project Data
Council of Graduate Schools
www.cgsnet.org
Completion Rates and Timing by
Race/Ethnicity and Broad Field
Under-represented Minorities (Domestic)
Native American
Cohort
7-yr
10-yr
Black/African
American
Hispanic
Asian
American
Majority
(White)
7-yr
10-yr
7-yr
10-yr
7-yr
10-yr
7-yr
10-yr
Engineering
69.2%
66.7%
38.1%
50.0%
52.2%
67.5%
45.7%
53.6%
52.3%
62.5%
Life Sciences
63.6%
100.0%
41.4%
59.5%
42.7%
63.0%
45.2%
55.9%
54.3%
63.8%
Physical
Sciences/Math
54.6%
66.7%
36.4%
41.0%
45.6%
58.1%
41.8%
52.3%
48.0%
54.3%
Social Sciences
29.6%
20.0%
33.6%
50.7%
28.2%
48.2%
35.4%
48.5%
41.1%
55.4%
Humanities
29.2%
71.4%
34.7%
53.7%
28.1%
46.5%
33.1%
55.4%
35.9%
55.3%
Source: Council of Graduate Schools, Ph.D Completion Project Data
Council of Graduate Schools
www.cgsnet.org
Other Research Areas
 Effectiveness of undergraduate research in
steering undergraduates toward graduate school
 Effectiveness of teaching and curriculum
(motivation, persistence, and problem solving
ability)
 Undergraduate and graduate institution
transformation
Summary of Implications of Research for
Intervention Programs
 Examine faculty mentoring practice --- more of a focus
on (a) research productivity, (b) strengthening students’
belief in their ability to perform, (c) helping them to
continually clarify career goals and path
 Examine the effectiveness of undergraduate research
programs
 Examine curriculum and teaching practices
***Academic preparation and support for students in core
courses
***Course articulation with knowledge and skills needed
during the graduate school years
Implications for Departments and Labs
 Social Integration (Cues, environmental barriers)
 Intellectual Integrations
 Early detection of switchers and leavers
 Attention to financial aid and debt burden
 Attention to family/work balance
 Data collection and evidence that programs and
practices are working
 Faculty professional development as related to
mentoring, research on interventions, diversity, and
data collection
Implications for Institutional Leaders
 Diversity conscious policies and practices
 Building a data collection infrastructure
 Supporting departmental efforts