Advancing Inclusive Diversity in Science Through Understanding and Measuring STEM Faculty Assimilation Expectations for Racially Marginalized and Minoritized Students

California Polytechnic State University Foundation, San Luis Obispo CA

Investigators

Abstract

The United States significantly benefits from scientific innovation. The breadth of scientific innovation is fueled by the skills, knowledge, and experience (the human capital) of the people who make up the scientific workforce. To promote greater scientific creativity and innovation, science learning and training environments must function as contexts that invite, cultivate, and leverage the broadest and most unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives. Science faculty who lead academic research labs have an extensive influence over who participates in and produces scientific research. They directly shape the breadth of human capital that makes up the scientific workforce. Yet, we do not know whether faculty believe that all students can be an incredible asset to science because of their unique background and lived experiences. This project investigates whose knowledge, skills, and perspectives are discouraged and “left on the table” by faculty who hold certain expectations about who and what a scientist should be. This project will examine faculty science assimilation beliefs – the extent to which faculty expect students to assimilate to the normative science culture which benefits some students but not others, and the extent to which faculty perceive that the identity and background of students from racially marginalized and minoritized backgrounds is a limitation versus an asset to scientific innovation. The goal of this project is to collect data from a nationally representative sample of nearly two thousand faculty who lead academic research labs to answer three research questions: 1. What are the cognitive, behavioral, and motivational manifestations of faculty’s assimilation expectations for undergraduate research assistants, especially those from racially marginalized and minoritized backgrounds? 2. What is the underlying theoretical factor structure, reliability, and validity of a new measure of faculty science assimilation beliefs? 3. How prevalent (nationwide) are faculty science assimilation beliefs, and do these beliefs relate to important outcomes (e.g., diversity and robustness of research labs)? To answer these questions, this project draws on social psychological theories and mixed methods (e.g., qualitative interviews, psychometric analyses, quantitative multilevel analyses) to conceptualize, understand, and develop a valid measurement tool that assesses faculty science assimilation beliefs, and to examine the prevalence and influence of these beliefs among STEM faculty who train the next generation of scientists. The goal is to advance the theoretical and methodological tools necessary for understanding and intervening on science faculty’s assimilation expectations for the next generation of scientists in order to recruit and retain a diverse scientific workforce that reaches its full potential. This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.