AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC SELF-EFFICACY AS A BENEFIT OF SUMMER RESEARCH PARTICIPATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS

Title	AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC SELF-EFFICACY AS A BENEFIT OF SUMMER RESEARCH PARTICIPATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS
Author	Carter, Frances DeAnna
Advisors	Mandell, Marvin B
Program	Public Policy
UMBC Department	Public Policy
Document Type	dissertation
Sponsors	University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Keywords	scientific research proficiency; scientific self-efficacy; STEM fields; undergraduate research; underrepresented minorities
Date Issued	2011-01-01
Abstract	Low participation and performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields by U.S. citizens are widely recognized as major problems with substantial economic, political, and social ramifications. Studies of collegiate interventions designed to broaden participation in STEM fields suggest that participation in undergraduate research is a key program component that enhances such student outcomes as undergraduate GPA, graduation, persistence in a STEM major, and graduate school enrollment. However, little is known about the mechanisms that are responsible for these positive effects. The current study hypothesizes that undergraduate research participation increases scientific self-efficacy and scientific research proficiency. This hypothesis was tested using data obtained from a survey of minority students from several STEM intervention programs that offer undergraduate research opportunities. Students were surveyed both prior to and following the summer of 2010. Factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of participants' responses on scientific self-efficacy and scientific research proficiency scales. Difference-in-difference analysis was then applied to the resulting factor score differences to estimate the relationship of summer research participation with scientific self-efficacy and scientific research proficiency. Factor analytic results replicate and further validate previous findings of a general scientific self-efficacy construct (Schultz, 2008). While the factor analytic results for the exploratory scientific research proficiency scale suggest that it was also a measureable construct, the factor structure was not generalizable over time. Potential reasons for the lack of generalizability validity for the scientific research proficiency scale are explored and recommendations for emerging scales are provided. Recent restructuring attempts within federal science agencies threaten the future of STEM intervention programs. Causal estimates of the effect of undergraduate research participation on specific and measurable benefits can play an important role in ensuring the sustainability of STEM intervention programs. Obtaining such estimates requires additional studies that, inter alia, incorporate adequate sample sizes, valid measurement scales, and the ability to account for unobserved variables. Political strategies, such as compromise, can also play an important role in ensuring the sustainability of STEM intervention programs.
Identifier	10504
Format	application:pdf
Language	en
Collection	UMBC Theses and Dissertations.
Rights Statement	This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu.
Source	Carter_umbc_0434D_10504.pdf

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AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC SELF-EFFICACY AS A BENEFIT OF SUMMER RESEARCH PARTICIPATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS

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