Reversing Underrepresentation: The Impact of Undergraduate Research Programs on Enrollment in STEM Graduate Programs

• In Event: The Changing Face of STEM: Intersections of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Abstract

To increase the numbers of underrepresented racial minority (URM) students who attain STEM degrees and eventually pursue careers in STEM, federal and private agencies have allocated significant funding in support of undergraduate research programs. Prior studies have relied upon descriptive rather than inferential statistics to examine post-baccalaureate outcomes of undergraduate research participants, failing to account for self-selection into these experiences. This study utilizes propensity score matching and hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) to examine how participation in undergraduate research affects students’ likelihood to enroll in STEM graduate programs. Findings suggest that participation in both structured research programs and conducting research with faculty outside of structured programs significantly improve participants’ probability of enrolling in STEM graduate and professional programs.

Authors

• Sylvia Hurtado, University of California - Los Angeles

• Kevin Eagan, University of California - Los Angeles

• Tanya Figueroa, University of California - Los Angeles

• Bryce Edward Hughes, University of California - Los Angeles