Becoming
STEM Protégés:
:
Factors Predicting the Access and Development of
Meaningful Faculty-Student Relationships
Race/Ethnicity
Latina/o
19%
White
44%
African
American
16%
American
Indian
5%
Asian
16%
Background and Pre-College Variables
Effect
Native American (vs. White)
–
Came to college to prepare for graduate school
+
Goal of being well-off financially
–
Note: Several other pre-college experiences and achievement
variables had significant associations with faculty mentorship
prior to adding college experiences to the model.
College Experiences
Career goal: Discovery/enhancement of
knowledge
Failed one or more courses
Effect
+
–
Joined club related to major
+
Presented research at a conference
+
Worked on independent study projects
+
Tutored another college student
+
Met with advisor/counselor about career
plans
Asked professor for advice after class
+
+
College Experiences
Effect
Challenged a professor’s ideas in class
+
Felt intimidated by professors
–
Felt isolated from campus life
–
Felt that faculty are interested in students’
personal problems
Felt that faculty are interested in students’
academic problems
Satisfaction with racial/ethnic diversity of
student body
+
+
+
Institutional Context
Effect
Control: Private
+
Selectivity
+
HBCU (vs. non-HBCU)
+
Proportion of STEM undergraduates
–
Student aggregate: Faculty are interested in
students’ personal problems
Faculty aggregate: Faculty are interested in
students’ academic problems
+
+
Contact Information
Faculty and Co-PIs:
Sylvia Hurtado
Mitchell Chang
Postdoctoral Scholars:
Kevin Eagan
Josephine Gasiewski
Graduate Research Assistants:
Christopher Newman
Minh Tran
Jessica Sharkness
Gina Garcia
Felisha Herrera
Cindy Mosqueda
Administrative Staff:
Aaron Pearl
Juan Garibay
Tanya Figueroa
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.