A Strong Start in the Sciences:Factors Influencing Minority Students’ Academic and Social Engagement

Kevin Eagan & Jessica SharknessHigher Education Research Institute, UCLA

28th Annual Conference on the First Year ExperienceOrlando, FL

February 2009

Background

Demographic shifts: Increasing numbers of underrepresented minority (URM)

students entering college Improved representation of URM students entering science,

technology, engineering, and math fields as first-year students (Astin & Astin, 1993; Seymour & Hewitt, 1997)

National call for increased number of research scientists - Rising Above the Gathering Storm (2005); America Competes Act (2007)

New focus on undergraduate scientific training Undergraduate research programs Emphasis on more engaging pedagogy in science

classrooms

Issues & Challenges

URMs remain severely underrepresented in STEM fields ‘Leaky’ STEM pipeline – more likely to leave STEM fields

compared to White/Asian American peers (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; NSF, 2003).

Black, Latino, and Native American students’ representation in STEM fields is significantly lower than their share of the US population and college-going population

Goal of this project: Identify factors that facilitate and/or hinder URM students’ progression toward research careers in STEM fields.

Previous Project Research Findings

Differences in student support structures across and within institutions

Sources of student support have different implications for student success

Key linkage during first year between academic adjustment and sense of belonging

URM science students have unique adjustment processes over the first year of college

Current Study

What are the nature, quality, and context for engagement of URM biomedical and behavioral science (BBS) students with peers and faculty?

How are engagement and access to resources linked with participation in campus programs (e.g., undergraduate research, living-learning communities, first-year seminars)?

How similar are the patterns of academic and social engagement across racial groups?

Why study the development of student and faculty support networks?

Faculty support networks Alleviate URM students’ sense of isolation Improve academic achievement (Cole, 2008; Cole & Espinoza,

2008; Cole & Jackson, 2005)

Lead to higher levels of satisfaction with academics and overall campus environment (Cole & Jackson, 2005; Endo & Harpel, 1982)

Student support networks Contribute to students’ sense of social integration, which

is tied to persistence/degree completion (Bean, 1980; Tinto, 1993)

Enhance satisfaction with college environment (Cole & Jackson, 2005)

Theoretical frameworks on support networks and social support

Perception of respect, esteem, and network membership (Cobb, 1976)

Fulfillment of social needs/desires through interaction (Kaplan, Cassel, Gore, 1977)

Social capital as derived from information-sharing networks and relationships based on trust and reciprocity (Coleman, 1988)

Conceptual model

BackgroundCharacteristics

(demographics)

HSAcademics

HSSocial activities

CollegeAcademics

College SocialActivities

Participationin first-year programs

Faculty andstudent support

networks

CollegeCharacteristics

Pre-collegecharacteristics

(controls)

InstitutionalCharacteristics

CollegeExperiences

SupportNetworks

Data & Sample

Data source: HERI’s 2004 Cooperative Institutional

Research Program’s (CIRP) Freshman Survey Your First College Year (YFCY) administered

at the end of the freshman year (Spring 2005) Missing values imputed Sample:

3,218 students in 160 institutions broken into two groups:

URM science majors (1,796 cases) White/ Asian science majors (1,422 cases)

Analysis Plan

Descriptive Statistics Creation composite variables (factors)

representing student support networks and faculty support networks

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to control for the sequential nature of students’ development of support networks and identify indirect effects

Student Support Networks Factor

Student Support Networks measured by a composite variable composed of: Frequency of interaction with close college

friends Self-assessment of success at developing

close friendships with students Frequency with which students study with other

students Frequency with which students receive advice

from juniors or seniors Frequency with which students received advice

from other freshmen

Faculty Support Networks

Faculty Support Networks measured by a composite variable composed of: Frequency of interaction with faculty during

office hours Frequency of interaction with faculty outside of

class or office hours Frequency of receiving advice from faculty

about students’ educational program Frequency of receiving emotional support and

encouragement from a professor

Descriptive findings

White and Asian American BBS students had higher levels of faculty support, lower levels of student support and lower levels of cross-racial interactions when compared to URM BBS peers

Students attending MSIs (White/Asian American and URM) reported significantly higher levels of faculty and student support than students at PWIs

Students from both samples reported stronger faculty and student support networks at private institutions compared to peers at public institutions

Significant factors directly promoting student support networks

Order of importance White/Asian students URM students

1Hours per week spent socializing with friends

Discussing course content with students outside class

2Discussing course content with students outside class

Hours per week spent socializing with friends

3Hours per week spent in student clubs/groups

Cross-racial interactions

4 Cross-racial interactionsHours per week spent in student clubs/groups

5Interacting with academic advisors

Attending an MSI

6Taking first-year seminar course

Agreement that faculty are interested in students' personal problems

Significant factors Indirectly promoting student support networks

Order of importance White/Asian students URM students

1HPW Socializing with friends in HS

HPW Socializing with friends in HS

2Asking teacher for advice after class in HS

Asking teacher for advice after class in HS

3 Attending a private college Attending a private college

Notable non-significant effects

White/Asian students URM students

Belief that faculty take an interest in students’ personal problems

Interacting with academic advisors

Current GPA Current GPA

Gender Gender

Significant factors directly promoting faculty support networks

Order of

importance

White/Asian students URM students

1 Interacting w/ academic advisors Interacting w/ academic advisors

2Faculty are interested in students’ personal problems

Faculty are interested in students’ personal problems

3Faculty are interested in students’ academic problems

Faculty are interested in students’ academic problems

4Worked with an academic advisor to select courses

Worked on a professor’s research project

5Joined pre-professional or departmental club

Received negative feedback about academic work

6Received negative feedback about academic work

Worked with an academic advisor to select courses

7 Worked on prof’s research proj.

8 Took FYS

9 HPW Studying

10 Selectivity (Negative)

Significant factors Indirectly promoting faculty support networks

Order of importance White/Asian students URM students

1 Attending a private college Attending a private college

2Institutional Selectivity (negative)

Institutional Selectivity (negative)

Notable non-significant effects

White/Asian students URM students

College GPA College GPA

Participation in FYS

Selectivity

Discussion of findings

Positive effect of cross-racial interactions on development of student support networks indicates potential increase in level of trust and respect

Frequently socializing with friends helps meet need for meaningful interactions with significant others (Kaplan, Cassell, & Gore, 1997)

Attending Minority-Serving Institution provides better opportunity for URM students to connect with “own-group” peers (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997)

Discussion of findings

Positive relationship between negative feedback and development of faculty support networks parallels earlier research (Cohen, Steele, & Ross, 1999; Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004).

Interacting regularly with faculty (through advising, research, and/or mentoring) augments students’ sense of support from faculty (Kuh & Hu, 2001)

Conducting research signifies since of trust passed from faculty to student, which appears to contribute to stronger support network, particularly for URM students (Coleman, 1988)

Implications and Conclusions

Importance of trust and reciprocity in developing support networks

Student and faculty support networks as intermediate outcomes Strong social networks may lead to increased

persistence likelihood (Tinto, 1993) Connecting with faculty and peers positively linked to

improved satisfaction (Cole & Jackson, 2005; Endo & Harpel, 1982)

High satisfaction and sense of support connected with academic achievement (Cole, 2008; Cole & Espinoza, 2008)

Higher levels of achievement, increased satisfaction, and commitment to degree help prevent “leaks” from the science pipeline (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997)

Questions and Discussion

What opportunities, resources, and structures are in place on your campuses to facilitate the development of faculty support networks?

What formal programs do your campuses offer to encourage the development of strong peer support networks?

Contact Information

Kevin Eagan – mkeagan@gmail.com Jessica Sharkness – jsharkness@ucla.edu Project web site:

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/nih Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by the

support of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant Number 1 RO1 GMO71968-01. This independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by the sponsor.