Educational Trajectories of Talented STEM Graduate Students

• In Event: Talent and Identity Development Across the STEM Pathway

Abstract

Purpose
With national attention on the shortage of students trained in science, mathematics, and engineering (National Science Foundation, 2000), many efforts have focused on recruitment of more students into the STEM graduate programs and particularly domestic students from underrepresented groups. Similarly, of much concern is the low graduate completion rates, which indicate that mathematics and the physical sciences have the lowest completion rates of any field with 52% of White students and 37% of African Americans completing within ten years (Council of Graduate Schools, 2007). Although emerging research has focused on attrition rather than persistence (Golde, 2005; Herzig, 2004; Lott & Gardner, 2008), this study examines the experiences of successful students to gain a better understanding of how student’s interests and talents in STEM are developed throughout their educational pathways.

Methods
Data are drawn from over 60 hours of focus group interviews with a diverse group of 150 masters or doctoral students from seven universities across the United States. A semi-structured interview technique was used (Merriam, 1998), and all focus group interviews were audio recorded, professionally transcribed and checked for accuracy. A team of six researchers read transcripts and identified emergent themes. Through an ongoing process of review, note-taking, and memo writing, an initial coding structure was created in NVivo 8 and refined through three rounds of inter-coder reliability exercises, where 85% agreement was reached.

Theoretical Perspectives & Results
This study utilizes Carlone & Johnson’s (2007) conception of “science identity” which emphasizes three central features: competence, performance, and recognition. Through an examination of participants’ entire educational trajectory, beginning with early learning, we gain insights into their initial interests and early predispositions in science.

“I’ve been cultivating this [science] identity, since I was 12. I always wanted to make a difference. Through my experience in science, as an organic chemist, I can contribute to a medicine cure.”

Additionally, interviewees cited significant educational experiences, including participation in undergraduate research programs with faculty members or in the lab setting, which deepened their appreciation for the sciences and developed their skill and confidence for conducting research.

“Interacting with others affects how I feel as a scientist and reaffirms my identity as a scientist. If I’m in the lab making sorts of things that gives me the drive or motivation to a scientist.”

Reflecting on their graduate school experience, students describe how their research work with faculty and other development opportunities aid their identification as a legitimate scientist and researcher.

“I have a good relationship with my PI. He’ll talk to me like I’m another scientist and encourages the idea that we are peers.”

Significance
The depth that is afforded from this trajectory analysis, beginning with participants’ early learning and highlighting movement through their graduate experience, provides insights into their initial motivations; salient experiences that solidified their aspirations; the influence of significant individuals; and their development of talents and skills. The findings reveal a culminating perspective on the strategies and rationale that determine how students utilize resources and opportunities to develop a science identity.

Authors

• Felisha Herrera, University of California - Los Angeles

• Sylvia Hurtado, University of California - Los Angeles

• Gina Ann Garcia, University of California - Los Angeles

• Josephine Ann Gasiewski, University of California - Los Angeles