Race-Conscious Mentoring Enhances the Effect of Research Experience on Science Career Intention for Underrepresented Minority Students

• In Event: Empowering Pathways: Racialized Realities of Mentorship, Belonging, and Advising in STEM

Abstract

This study examines the role of race-conscious mentoring in broadening STEM participation for underrepresented minority students (URM). By using a diverse sample of 187 STEM students who self-reported having a mentor who helped with their research, we found that (1) students with research experience reported higher science identity and science career intention than students without research experience and (2) the indirect effect of research experience on science career intention was fully mediated by science identity and further moderated by the interaction between race-conscious mentoring and URM status. While all students benefited from research experience, race-conscious mentoring enhances the effects of research experience on science career intention for URM students. This study has important implications for supporting URM students in STEM.

Authors

• Shuyan Sun, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

• Allison M. French, University of Wisconsin - Superior