Becoming Part of a Community of Researchers Through a Research Center Apprenticeship

• In Event: Increasing Diversity in Higher Education: A Look at the Pathways to the Educational Sciences Program

Abstract

As the United States grows exponentially diverse, a higher education faculty that is still 76% White (NCES, 2016) serves as both facilitator and gatekeeper of research on issues affecting diverse youth. Recognizing the need to diversify the future of educational research, the Institute for Education Sciences funded grants to prepare diverse students to conduct rigorous educational research and enter PhD programs. Sacramento State’s Pathways Fellows program prepares a diverse set of future educational researchers to study factors that affect underrepresented students as they progress to and through higher education. Fellows serve in full-time, 10-week summer apprenticeships at Sacramento-area research centers (see Table 1). Participating centers are known for their research on educational inequities and have “stability in goals and resources;” a full complement of staff and researchers; and multiple, diverse streams of funding (Hall, 2017, p. 27).
This paper takes up the question: How does serving an apprenticeship at a research center prepare students for careers in educational research? Our work is framed by Lave and Wenger’s (1991) conception of communities of practice. In the apprenticeship community of practice model, “Apprentices have the opportunity to see community practice in its complexity early on and have a broader idea of what it is about more than just the particular tasks in which they are engaged or that are most easily observable” (Lave, 1991, p. 69). Researchers have found that students benefit from research apprenticeships that engage them in communities of practice, including feeling a sense of belonging and developing a research identity (Kimball & Turner, 2018), and a wide “range of desirable outcomes – especially among underrepresented populations” (Kobulnicky & Dale, 2016, p. 17).
This mixed methods study gathered multiple forms of data: (a) Likert scale survey of Fellows, (b) open ended questions, and (c) on-site observations (see Tables 2 and 3). Using grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), the researcher analyzed the data through open coding – reading and creating codes for categories. Methods triangulation (Denzin, 1978) was then applied in order to identify common themes across the three methods of data collection. Three main themes, and sub-themes, emerged.

1. Benefit of multiple researcher interactions
a. Multiple forms of apprentice support
b. Collaborative research opportunities
2. Benefit of multiple research projects
a. Flexibility in apprentice research projects
b. Results of multiple research projects visible on a continuous basis
3. Benefit of experiencing a research center setting
a. Integration into regular office operations
b. New understandings of research conducted in full-time research settings
c. Offers of post-apprenticeship jobs at centers

This study provides evidence that students who become part of a community of researchers through an apprenticeship at a research center receive multiple forms of support, gain experience in a wide range of educational research projects, and are introduced to the possibility of pursuing a professional research career. Recommendations for the field include the development of partnerships with research centers to provide apprenticeship-style research experiences, helping students develop the skills and dispositions needed to succeed within academia or in a professional research career.

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Author

• Jana Noel, California State University - Sacramento