African American College Students' Identity Development as Scientists: A Mixed-Methods Study

• In Event: 47.031 - Mixed-Methods Research on Learning and Motivation in Social and Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Objective
The aim of this study was to use a concurrent mixed methods design to understand the relationship between the racial identity, science identity, and science self-efficacy beliefs of African American students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Theoretical Framework
Although researchers are aware that racial identity influences self-efficacy beliefs (Collins & Lightsey, 2001; Hughes & Demo, 1989), there is limited research into the influence racial identity has on the science self-efficacy beliefs of African American students. To better understand the relationship between racial identity, science identity, and science self-efficacy, we used a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework which centralizes race at the core of analysis and examines issues of power and oppression (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006).
Methods/Data Sources
Integration at the design level occurred through the use of a concurrent mixed methods design (QUANT + qual), which allowed us to collect different forms of data concurrently and then later merge the findings (Creswell & Clark, 2011).
In the quantitative strand, the participants were 347 African American undergraduate science majors who attended a HBCU. The qualitative strand included 14 participants that also participated in the quantitative component.
For the quantitative strand, students responded to questions on three different instruments: Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998); Science Identity Scale (Chemers, Zurbriggen, Syed, Goza, & Bearmen, 2011); and Science Self-Efficacy Inventory (Nietfeld, Cao, & Osborne, 2006), and completed a demographics questionnaire.
The quantitative survey questions were given to participants in either an online format (Qualtrics) or paper-pencil format. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted either by phone or face-to-face.
We calculated descriptive statistics as well as a variety of inferential statistics including moderation analysis. For the qualitative component, the interviews were transcribed, reviewed for accuracy, and uploaded to Atlas.ti for coding (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Integration at the methods level was achieved through merging, in which we developed a convergence coding matrix table to bring together the quantitative and qualitative data (see Table 1; O’Cathain, Murphy, & Nicholl, 2010).
Results
Quantitative data revealed that the nationalist ideology (racial identity) significantly moderated the effect science self-efficacy had on college achievement, B = 0.16, t(236) = 2.53, p = .012. Qualitative data revealed that HBCUs facilitated the development of the constructs of interest by establishing Black racial cohesion and Black science cohesion, as well as by building students’ science cultural capital. The integration of the quantitative and qualitative data provided a deeper understanding of the negative association between science identity and science self-efficacy beliefs.
Significance
In sum, the use of a concurrent mixed method design allowed us to break new ground and explore the interplay between the science identity, racial identity, and science self-efficacy beliefs. The results from the present study call attention to the need to attend to the negotiation processes that African American students must go through in order to engage in science communities of practice.

Authors

• Angela M White, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

• Jessica T. Decuir-Gunby, North Carolina State University