Knowledge is em(power)ing: Historically underrepresented groups benefit from exposure to information about advanced degrees in psychology

Despite the growing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educationand careers, the “leaky pipeline” continues to disproportionally exclude underrepresented minorities from STEM fields. One feature of the leaky pipeline is unequal access to guidance surrounding graduate education and careers in STEM fields. Disparities in representation can be diminished by making this guidance more accessible, which may be particularly beneficial at the transition from undergraduate to post-graduate research experience and education. Here, we sought to investigate the value of large-scale, open access programming as a mechanism for achieving this objective, by using survey data from a 2020 Yale University Research Psychology Bootcamp as a case study. We found that this programming increased confidence and understanding of how to navigate the field of research psychology in all survey respondents, with a targeted benefit for Black and First Generation/Low-Income participants. Based on these findings, we argue that large-scale, open-access programming offers a unique and practical utility toward eliminating disparities in STEM higher education and STEM fields.

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Participation in a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Results in Higher Grades in the Companion Lecture Course

Educational Researcher ◽

10.3102/0013189x20968097 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 0013189X2096809

Author(s):

Marsha Ing ◽

James M. Burnette ◽

Tarek Azzam ◽

Susan R. Wessler

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Undergraduate Research ◽

Public Institutions ◽

Research Experience ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Academic Characteristics ◽

Course Grades ◽

Undergraduate Science ◽

Hispanic Serving ◽

The Impact

Opportunities for large numbers of undergraduates to engage in authentic research experiences are limited in many large public institutions. These large public institutions serve the vast majority of students who are historically underrepresented in STEM fields, such as first-generation, low-income students of color. Although a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) is one scalable approach to providing such opportunities, there is limited evidence about the impact of participation, particularly for students historically underrepresented in science. This study provides evidence of the influence of student participation in a CURE on undergraduate science course grades using an experimental design and multiple years of data from students at a Hispanic-serving institution. Course grades were compared for five different science courses across five cohorts of students participating in a CURE ( n = 935) and a similar group of students who did not participate in the CURE ( n = 1,144). CURE students had significantly higher overall grades in a lecture course directly related to the CURE even after statistically adjusting for demographic and academic characteristics. Implications for CUREs as a model for improving science knowledge and achievement for students typically underrepresented in STEM fields are discussed.

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Ensuring Success Among First-Generation, Low-Income, and Underserved Minority Students: Developing a Unified Community of Support

American Behavioral Scientist ◽

10.1177/0002764219869413 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

pp. 349-369

Author(s):

Elizabeth Holcombe ◽

Adrianna Kezar

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Low Income ◽

Structural Changes ◽

First Generation ◽

State University ◽

University Campuses ◽

Integrated Programs ◽

Faculty And Staff ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Community Of Support

Recent research has demonstrated the value of comprehensive, integrated programs that combine and align several interventions to create a seamless learning environment for undergraduate students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). While there is emerging evidence of the value of these integrated programs for student success, there is little understanding of exactly how and why they are effective. This study of integrated programs at several California State University campuses indicates that successful integrated programs are effective because they create what we term a unified community of support for students, faculty, and staff. A unified community of support leverages structural changes to campus policies and practices to promote individual changes to faculty and staff knowledge, beliefs, actions, and relationships. This combination offers a unique and novel way of both organizing and conceptualizing student support within higher education, as most existing programs are based around either structural changes or individual support, rather than a mutually reinforcing combination of the two.

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What We Bring With Us: Investing in Latinx Students Means Investing in Families

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1177/2372732220983855 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 3-10

Author(s):

Rebecca Covarrubias

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Low Income ◽

Large Scale ◽

First Generation ◽

The United States ◽

Cultural Norms ◽

Investment Strategies ◽

Diverse Workforce ◽

Familial Obligations ◽

Workforce Educators

The educational landscape of the United States has shifted as more low-income, first-generation Latinx students enroll in 4-year universities. Despite this, many underlying structures and practices of these institutions still reflect the cultural norms of culturally dominant groups (e.g., White, upper-to-middle-class, continuing-generation), privileging individualism. This overlooks the cultural values of low-income, first-generation Latinx students, who often prioritize interdependent connections and obligations. When universities do not recognize familial obligations, students must decide between helping family or doing well in school—which complicates their capacity to succeed academically. To graduate diverse future leaders and build a diverse workforce, educators and policymakers must consider that investing in students means investing in their families, too. Concrete examples, from small interventions to large-scale policy changes, illustrate meaningful investment strategies.

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Do We Need to Design Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences for Authenticity?

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.16-02-0102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. ar79 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Susan Rowland ◽

Rhianna Pedwell ◽

Gwen Lawrie ◽

Joseph Lovie-Toon ◽

Yu Hung

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Large Scale ◽

Undergraduate Research ◽

Research Experience ◽

Authentic Science ◽

Research Experiences ◽

Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Definition Of

The recent push for more authentic teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics indicates a shared agreement that undergraduates require greater exposure to professional practices. There is considerable variation, however, in how “authentic” science education is defined. In this paper we present our definition of authenticity as it applies to an “authentic” large-scale undergraduate research experience (ALURE); we also look to the literature and the student voice for alternate perceptions around this concept. A metareview of science education literature confirmed the inconsistency in definitions and application of the notion of authentic science education. An exploration of how authenticity was explained in 604 reflections from ALURE and traditional laboratory students revealed contrasting and surprising notions and experiences of authenticity. We consider the student experience in terms of alignment with 1) the intent of our designed curriculum and 2) the literature definitions of authentic science education. These findings contribute to the conversation surrounding authenticity in science education. They suggest two things: 1) educational experiences can have significant authenticity for the participants, even when there is no purposeful design for authentic practice, and 2) the continuing discussion of and design for authenticity in UREs may be redundant.

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A Low-Intensity, Hybrid Design between a “Traditional” and a “Course-Based” Research Experience Yields Positive Outcomes for Science Undergraduate Freshmen and Shows Potential for Large-Scale Application

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.17-11-0248 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. ar53

Author(s):

Thushani Rodrigo-Peiris ◽

Lin Xiang ◽

Vincent M. Cassone

Keyword(s):

Student Perceptions ◽

Student Outcomes ◽

Large Scale ◽

Undergraduate Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Research Experience ◽

Research Experiences ◽

Stem Majors ◽

Outcomes Evaluation ◽

And Mathematics

Based on positive student outcomes, providing research experiences from early undergraduate years is recommended for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. To this end, we designed a novel research experience called the “STEMCats Research Experience” (SRE) for a cohort of 119 second-semester freshmen with diverse college preparatory levels, demographics, and academic majors. The SRE targeted student outcomes of enhancing retention in STEM majors, STEM competency development, and STEM academic performance. It was designed as a hybrid of features from apprenticeship-based traditional undergraduate research experience and course-based undergraduate research experience designs, considering five factors: 1) an authentic research experience, 2) a supportive environment, 3) current and future needs for scale, 4) student characteristics and circumstances, and 5) availability and sustainability of institutional resources. Emerging concepts for facilitating and assessing student success and STEM curriculum effectiveness were integrated into the SRE design and outcomes evaluation. Here, we report the efficient and broadly applicable SRE design and, based on the analysis of institutional data and student perceptions, promising student outcomes from its first iteration. Potential improvements for the SRE design and future research directions are discussed.

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Planetary gentrification and urban (re)development

Urban Development Issues ◽

10.2478/udi-2019-0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 5-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Loretta Lees

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Policy Making ◽

Large Scale ◽

Urban Redevelopment ◽

Urban Transformation ◽

Small Scale ◽

Income Groups ◽

Low Income Groups

Abstract Gentrification is no-longer, if it ever was, a small scale process of urban transformation. Gentrification globally is more often practised as large scale urban redevelopment. It is state-led or state-induced. The results are clear – the displacement and disenfranchisement of low income groups in favour of wealthier in-movers. So, why has gentrification come to dominate policy making worldwide and what can be done about it?

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Molecular Epidemiology and Biomarkers in Etiologic Cancer Research: The New in Light of the Old

10.31234/osf.io/tcdfb ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lungwani Muungo

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Cancer Research ◽

Molecular Epidemiology ◽

Exposure Assessment ◽

Large Scale ◽

First Generation ◽

Cancer Epidemiology ◽

Policy Changes ◽

The Past ◽

New Generation

The purpose of this review is to evaluate progress inmolecular epidemiology over the past 24 years in canceretiology and prevention to draw lessons for futureresearch incorporating the new generation of biomarkers.Molecular epidemiology was introduced inthe study of cancer in the early 1980s, with theexpectation that it would help overcome some majorlimitations of epidemiology and facilitate cancerprevention. The expectation was that biomarkerswould improve exposure assessment, document earlychanges preceding disease, and identify subgroupsin the population with greater susceptibility to cancer,thereby increasing the ability of epidemiologic studiesto identify causes and elucidate mechanisms incarcinogenesis. The first generation of biomarkers hasindeed contributed to our understanding of riskandsusceptibility related largely to genotoxic carcinogens.Consequently, interventions and policy changes havebeen mounted to reduce riskfrom several importantenvironmental carcinogens. Several new and promisingbiomarkers are now becoming available for epidemiologicstudies, thanks to the development of highthroughputtechnologies and theoretical advances inbiology. These include toxicogenomics, alterations ingene methylation and gene expression, proteomics, andmetabonomics, which allow large-scale studies, includingdiscovery-oriented as well as hypothesis-testinginvestigations. However, most of these newer biomarkershave not been adequately validated, and theirrole in the causal paradigm is not clear. There is a needfor their systematic validation using principles andcriteria established over the past several decades inmolecular cancer epidemiology.

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Spiritual and Religious Support for Underrepresented First-Generation, Low-Income (UFGLI) Students

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel12070548 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 548

Author(s):

Elliott Ingersoll ◽

Sophia Elliott ◽

Stephanie Drcar

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Low Income ◽

First Generation ◽

Support Systems ◽

Educational Experience ◽

Religious Support ◽

Religion And Spirituality ◽

Minimal Support ◽

Systemic Barriers

UFGLI students comprise 34% of the students enrolled in four-year universities. Unlike some students, UFGLI students face internal and systemic barriers throughout their educational experience and their struggles are often dismissed and disregarded. Working and raising a family while taking courses, minimal support systems, and financial struggles require students to optimize their resources. We explore the issues of UFGLI students and the importance of their spiritual and religious supports using a literature review and a case study. Religious and spiritual identities are resources that should be explored and supported by staff at university counselling centers. Affirming UFGLI students’ religious and spiritual identities and understanding how religion and spirituality work in their lives can assist these students in their acclimation to and success at university.

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Gender Differences in Academic Efficacy across STEM Fields

Sociological Perspectives ◽

10.1177/07311214211028617 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073112142110286

Author(s):

Jennifer Ashlock ◽

Miodrag Stojnic ◽

Zeynep Tufekci

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Data Set ◽

Science Technology ◽

Middle Schoolers ◽

Self Assessments ◽

Math Grades ◽

And Mathematics

Cultural processes can reduce self-selection into math and science fields, but it remains unclear how confidence in computer science develops, where women are currently the least represented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Few studies evaluate both computer skills and self-assessments of skill. In this paper, we evaluate gender differences in efficacy across three STEM fields using a data set of middle schoolers, a particularly consequential period for academic pathways. Even though girls and boys do not significantly differ in terms of math grades and have similar levels of computer skill, the gender gap in computer efficacy is twice as large as the gap for math. We offer support for disaggregation of STEM fields, so the unique meaning making around computing can be addressed.

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Evaluation of a Low-Cost Commercial Actigraph and Its Potential Use in Detecting Cultural Variations in Physical Activity and Sleep

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21113774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3774

Author(s):

Pavlos Topalidis ◽

Cristina Florea ◽

Esther-Sevil Eigl ◽

Anton Kurapov ◽

Carlos Alberto Beltran Leon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Low Income ◽

Large Scale ◽

Low Cost ◽

Low Income Countries ◽

Time Data ◽

Cultural Variations ◽

Step Counts ◽

Scale Step ◽

Potential Use

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a low-cost commercial smartwatch, the Xiaomi Mi Band (MB), in extracting physical activity and sleep-related measures and show its potential use in addressing questions that require large-scale real-time data and/or intercultural data including low-income countries. We evaluated physical activity and sleep-related measures and discussed the potential application of such devices for large-scale step and sleep data acquisition. To that end, we conducted two separate studies. In Study 1, we evaluated the performance of MB by comparing it to the GT3X (ActiGraph, wGT3X-BT), a scientific actigraph used in research, as well as subjective sleep reports. In Study 2, we distributed the MB across four countries (Austria, Germany, Cuba, and Ukraine) and investigated physical activity and sleep among these countries. The results of Study 1 indicated that MB step counts correlated highly with the scientific GT3X device, but did display biases. In addition, the MB-derived wake-up and total-sleep-times showed high agreement with subjective reports, but partly deviated from GT3X predictions. Study 2 revealed similar MB step counts across countries, but significant later wake-up and bedtimes for Ukraine than the other countries. We hope that our studies will stimulate future large-scale sensor-based physical activity and sleep research studies, including various cultures.

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