Race to the Top: Examining Predictors of
Competition among First-Year Science Students
Sylvia Hurtado
Kevin Eagan
Josephine Gasiewski
Minh Tran
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA
2010 International Conference on the First Year Experience
Maui, HI
June 10, 2010
Significance
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Competitive culture of science
Focus on grades
“Survival of the fittest” mentality (Epstein, 2006)
Background
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Effects of competition on:
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Academic achievement
Retention
Knowledge gains
Contexts of competition
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Selective institutions
Introductory courses
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Grading on a curve
Large classes
Lack of engaging pedagogy
Out-of-class experiences
Research Questions
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What individual experiences and
institutional characteristics predict
science students’ sense of competition
for high grades among their peers?
What contexts and experiences
contribute to students’ sense of
competition?
What are students’ and faculty members’
perceptions about the culture of
competition in science across
institutions?
Theoretical Framework

Academic Tribes and Culture (Becher, 1989)

Culture of Science as a source of
“disruption”
 Folklore,
myths, and legends
 Socialization
 Normalization – “This is how science is done!”

Science Identification (Carlone and Johnson, 2007)
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Competence
Performance
Recognition
Qualitative Data Sources
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5 campuses: 1 HBCU, 2 HSIs, and 2 PWIs
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Selective research programs
Various funding sources
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Faculty and staff interviews (n=16)
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Student focus group interviews (n=71)
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60% female/40% male
56% Latina/o, 18% Black, 13% Asian American,
8% multiracial, 2.5% American Indian, and 2.5%
White
70% biology, biochemistry, or chemistry majors
Methods: Qualitative

Interpretive/descriptive qualitative study
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Semi-structured interview protocol
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Coded transcripts using NVivo® software
to identify emergent themes
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Reached inter-coder reliability of 85%
Methods: Quantitative
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Data and sample

2004 CIRP Freshman Survey and 2005 Your
First College Year Survey
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3,112 biomedical and behavioral science aspirants
150 colleges and universities
2004 CIRP Freshman Survey and 2008
College Senior Survey

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3,550 science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) aspirants
216 colleges and universities
Methods: Quantitative
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Variables
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Dependent variable: Extent to which students
sensed competition among their peers for high
grades
Independent variables
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Background characteristics
Pre-college experiences
First-year college experiences (TFS-YFCY dataset)
Fourth-year college experiences (TFS-CSS dataset)
Institutional characteristics
Analyses

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Descriptive statistics
Multilevel modeling
Findings: Predictors of Competition at
the End of the First Year of College
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Background characteristics and pre-college
experiences
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Participated in pre-college research program (+)
Chose college b/c had good academic rep (+)
Social self-confidence (+)
Sense of science identity (+)
Academic self-confidence (-)
Disciplinary differences (all compared to
psychology)
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Life science (+)
Physical science (+)
Health science (+)
Findings: Predictors of Competition at
the End of the First Year of College
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Classroom intimidation
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Out-of-class experiences
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Felt intimidated by professors (+)
Feel like most students are treated like
numbers in a book (+)
Studying with other students (+)
Received tutoring (+)
Feel that faculty are interested in students’
academic problems (+)
Contextual differences

Institutional selectivity (+)
Findings: Predictors of Competition
Four Years after College Entry
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Background characteristics
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Asian American (+)
Choosing a college based on prestigious
reputation (+)
Science identity (+)
Classroom intimidation
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Feeling intimidated by professors (+)
Feeling overwhelmed by academic work (+)
Findings: Predictors of Competition
Four Years after College Entry
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Out-of-class experiences
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Joining major-related club (+)
Discussing course content with students outside class
(+)
Studying with other students (+)
Talking with faculty outside of class (+)
Sensing a hostile racial climate (+)
Sensing that faculty are interested in students’ academic
problems (+)
Contextual differences
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Institutional size (+)
Selectivity (+)
Percentage of undergraduates majoring in STEM (+)
Classroom Intimidation
o
“People in organic chemistry don’t
sit there and ask, ‘How did that
Reveals lack of
work?’ You wait until office hours,
understanding
in the quiet, and make sure
Reveals lack of intelligence nobody thinks that you’re dumb.”
To both peers and
(Female student, PWI)
Fear of asking questions
o
o
o
professors
o
Hierarchy of questions
o
o
clarification vs. deep &
profound
Fostered by professors
“I feel like there’s a lot of pressure
to…it seems like there’s a lot of
pressure or I put a lot of pressure
on myself to…I feel bad if I ask a
question that’s just for clarification
and not something that’s deep
and profound.”
(Female student, PWI)
Out of Class Competition
Students are hesitant to:


Share information and
resources
Work together
“It also depends if you can open up
yourself to people and not just think like,
‘Oh, what if you join a group and you get
the same grades?’ It’s all about
competition, you know. A lot of the things
that happen…are all about competition,
getting the better A.”
(Female student, PWI)
“There are [people] that are really
competitive and I remember there
was…we had to get a journal article and it
was in the microfilm area and even though
you don’t get to take it away from there,
someone threw it away, so you couldn’t
get it and you had to order it and have it
sent down from another university.”
(Male student, PWI)
Contextual Differences

Importance of getting
noticed
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Not just being a #
Personal attention
Ethic of care
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Students
Faculty
“It seems like here, the people
have a mentality…like the
sharing mentality, so if you’re
not…if you don’t share or if
you’re not…if you’re thinking
about number one, they kind
of shun to the side. I mean,
because everyone else is in
the group and you’re…you
think you can work better on
your own, we’ll let you work
on your own. That’s how it is
here.”
(Female student, HBCU)
Grades vs. Learning

Pre-meds as intensely
competitive
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Gate-keeper courses
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Rote memorization vs.
learning

Faculty emphasis on
grades
“It’s really hard when you’re studying with
competitive people. It puts too much pressure
on your when you’re not trying to understand
the material because you like it, you’re trying
just to ace the class, so it’s not that desire to
learn, but the desire to get a better grade, and
sometimes you kind of just have to step back
from it and try to see why you’re doing what
you’re doing, not just to get the grade, but to
really understand the material so you can later
apply it.”
(Female student, PWI)
“I know my mentor’s always like…I don’t know,
like trying to motivate us and I think one way he
seeks to motivate us is to kind of be like, ‘Don’t
you want to be better than so-and-so,’ and you
kind of do get that feeling.
(Female student, HSI)
Mitigating Power of Undergraduate
Research Programs
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Provided:

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Smaller scale faculty interactions
Peer networks
Sense of community
Implications

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Intimidation in class fosters a greater
sense of competition
Academic competition extends out of class
to students’ studying behaviors and
strategies
Institutional context shapes how students
perceive and experience competition
Future research needed to further examine
grading practices, pedagogy and
environment of introductory science
Group Activity

Given the themes and challenges we just
presented… please discuss in small
groups how these issues affect your
individual campuses and develop a list of
recommendations for your respective
institutions. A spokesperson from each
group will share you list with the rest of the
participants.
Contact Information
Faculty and Co-PIs:
Sylvia Hurtado
Mitchell Chang
Postdoctoral Scholars:
Kevin Eagan
Josephine Gasiewski
Graduate Research Assistants:
Christopher Newman
Monica Lin
Minh Tran
Gina Garcia
Jessica Sharkness
Felisha Herrera
Administrative Staff:
Aaron Pearl
Cindy Mosqueda
Juan Garibay
Papers and reports are available for download at:
http://heri.ucla.edu/nih
Project e-mail: herinih@ucla.edu
Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by the support of the National Institute of
General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant Numbers 1 R01 GMO71968-01 and R01
GMO71968-05 as well as the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant Number 0757076.
This independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by
the sponsors.