Department of Engineering and Science Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States of America.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Mississippi, University, MS, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 25;19(10):e0310053. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310053. eCollection 2024.
Undergraduate research has been identified as a high-impact educational practice. However, despite the body of evidence on the outcomes of undergraduate research, few studies have focused on the influences students face regarding participation. Developed using Science Capital and Social Cognitive Career Theory, a survey comprised of potential influences to undergraduate science research participation was disseminated to science majors at four R1 institutions in the Southeastern United States. Participation rates across several demographic factors and effect of participation influences were analysed. Results reveal a significantly greater proportion of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus (LGBTQ+) and disability communities indicating participating in research than their peers. Additionally, fourteen participation influences were identified as having a significant difference in their level of influence to the ability to participate in research between researchers and non-researchers. These include professor influence, interest in research, interest in science, coursework in the major, and major all being rated as opportunities with a significant difference of effect between researchers and those who have not yet participated in research. The results of this study will be beneficial for science departments and their respective institutions to improve the equity of access to their undergraduate research experiences.
本科研究已被确定为具有重大影响的教育实践。然而，尽管有大量关于本科研究成果的证据，但很少有研究关注学生参与所面临的影响。本研究使用科学资本和社会认知职业理论，向美国东南部四所 R1 机构的理科专业学生分发了一份包含本科科学研究参与潜在影响因素的调查。分析了参与率在几个人口统计学因素和参与影响因素的效果方面的差异。结果表明，同性恋、双性恋、跨性别、变性者、酷儿、双性恋（LGBTQ+）和残疾群体的比例显著更高，表明他们比同龄人更倾向于参与研究。此外，有 14 个参与影响因素被确定为在参与研究的能力方面，研究者和未参与研究者之间存在显著差异。这些因素包括教授的影响、对研究的兴趣、对科学的兴趣、专业课程以及专业，所有这些都被认为是有机会的，研究者和未参与研究者之间的效果存在显著差异。这项研究的结果将有利于理科系及其各自的机构，以提高他们的本科研究经验的公平性。
