Sense of belonging within the graduate community of a research-focused STEM department: Quantitative assessment using a visual narrative and item response theory
Sense of belonging within the graduate community of a research-focused STEM department: Quantitative assessment using a visual narrative and item response theory
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0233431
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发表时间：
2020-05-21
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Baranger, Anne M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Stachl, Christiane N.;Baranger, Anne M.
有充分的证据表明，女性和种族/少数民族的代表性在更高层次的学术界，特别是在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）中减少。在整个学术界，人们经常强调，一个人认为自己在多大程度上被社区接受、重视和包容，这是一个重要的预测保留率的指标。虽然文献解决大学生的归属感是丰富的，一直很少有研究生社区的归属感的调查。因为研究生培训是产生新的科学领导者所必需的，所以理解和解决研究生层次的归属感是很重要的--明确地关注设计可用于提高学术界高层代表性的策略。在这里，一个视觉叙事调查和项目反应模型被用来量化的归属感之间的研究生，博士后研究人员和教师在化学系在加州大学伯克利分校。研究结果表明，研究生，博士后研究人员和教师都经历冒名顶替现象。受访者最难保持积极的自我认知，他们的生产力，作为一个科学家的能力，和成功，特别是与他们的同龄人相比。与同龄人交流科学知识，谈论教学障碍，以及建立导师关系也有助于增强归属感。教师的归属感最高，而高年级研究生和博士后研究人员的归属感最低。此外，研究生和博士后研究人员谁确定为代表性不足，以及那些谁提交的论文发表比同龄人少，不太可能感到归属感。这是第一项研究，在R1 STEM部门的整个研究生学术社区内对归属感进行定量，细致入微的理解。我们设想，这些方法可以在任何以研究为重点的学术单位内实施，以更好地了解社区成员面临的挑战，并确定促进积极文化变革的因素。此外，这些方法和结果应该为设计干预措施提供基础，学术利益相关者可以用来直接改善研究生教育。
It is well-documented that the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities diminishes at higher levels of academia, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Sense of belonging-the extent to which an individual believes they are accepted, valued, and included in a community-is often emphasized as an important predictor of retention throughout academia. While literature addressing undergraduate sense of belonging is abundant, there has been little investigation of sense of belonging in graduate communities. Because graduate training is required to generate new scientific leaders, it is important to understand and address sense of belonging at the graduate level-paying explicit attention to devising strategies that can be used to increase representation at higher levels of academia. Here, a visual narrative survey and item response modeling are used to quantify sense of belonging among graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Results suggest that graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty all experience impostor phenomenon. Respondents struggle most with maintaining positive self-perceptions of their productivity, capabilities as a scientist, and success-particularly in comparison to their peers. Communicating about science with peers, talking about teaching hurdles, and engaging in mentoring relationships also contribute significantly to sense of belonging. Faculty members have the highest sense of belonging, while senior graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are least likely to feel a sense of belonging. Additionally, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who identify as underrepresented, as well as those who submit manuscripts for publication less than their peers, are less likely to feel a sense of belonging. This is the first study to generate a quantitative, nuanced understanding of sense of belonging within the entire graduate academic community of an R1 STEM department. We envision that these methods can be implemented within any research-focused academic unit to better understand the challenges facing community members and identify factors to address in promoting positive culture change. Furthermore, these methods and results should provide a foundation for devising interventions that academic stakeholders can use to directly improve graduate education.