Trajectories into Early Career Research

拟议的项目将通过(1)确定研究生培训期间研究技能和专业目标的发展可以预测博士后职业成就和职业轨迹的方式，(2)检查博士后研究职位作为早期职业研究人员职业轨迹拐点的能力，以及(3)确定人口特征在多大程度上调节毕业生和博士后经历与职业早期研究人员随后的职业轨迹之间的关系，从而审查毕业生技能发展和研究生职业成果之间的联系。研究团队将对生物学博士生的样本进行跟踪调查，从他们研究生院的最后阶段到他们科学生涯的早期，以确定在研究生教育期间获得的哪些技能可以预测和促进博士后成就和学术生产率。该项目还将对早期职业研究人员(ECR)轨迹和结果中的不平等现象提供新的见解，并为旨在提高研究生培训和博士后支持机制的效率和效力的政策和干预措施提供信息。本研究的总体框架是社会认知职业理论。研究小组建议整合社会认知、社会化以及经济和社会学的视角，对286名完成学位并进入生物科学劳动力大军的博士生进行纵向研究。他们将调查四个假设：(1)ECR在认知、社区和组织职业生涯中的职业轨迹将反映“马太效应”，在这种效应中，微小的初始差异会随着时间的推移而导致越来越大的差异。(2)研究生期间的研究技能、自我效能感和组织职业目标将共同预测博士后的初始成就和坚持性。这些因素对随后职业发展轨迹的解释差异将随着时间的推移而减弱，而社区和组织内成功指标解释的差异将增加。(3)与博士后职位相关的特征和机会将预测ECR随后的认知、社区和组织职业轨迹中的线性和几何趋势，以及在研究职业道路上的持久性。(4)ECR在认知、社区和组织职业生涯中的职业轨迹，包括在研究职业道路上的持久性，将随着社会人口特征、技能发展和环境因素之间的相互作用而变化。研究人员将使用纵向结构方程模型来估计和描述每种职业类型的轨迹，并量化预期的“马太效应”。纵向结构方程模型还将用于了解轨迹如何相互关联，以及如何与参与者的技能发展、激励因素和研究生/博士后经历相关，以及轨迹如何随人口统计特征而变化。他们将为此估算一个潜在增长曲线模型。研究结果可以产生新的见解和干预措施，通过促进更公平的结果来使科学劳动力多样化。该项目得到ECR计划的支持，该计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。在基本、广泛和持久的关键领域进行投资：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。ECR支持积累强有力的证据，为理解、构建解释理论并提出干预和创新建议的努力提供信息，以应对STEM兴趣、教育、学习和参与方面的持续挑战。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The proposed project will examine the linkage between graduate skill development and postgraduate career outcomes by (1) identifying the ways in which the development of research skills and professional goals during graduate training may predict postdoctoral career attainment and trajectories, (2) examining the capacity of postdoctoral research positions to serve as inflection points in early career researchers' career trajectories, and (3) characterizing the extent to which demographic characteristics mediate the relationships between graduate and postdoctoral experiences and subsequent professional trajectories of early career researchers. The research team will follow a sample of biology Ph.D. students through their final stages of graduate school and into early years of their scientific careers to determine which skills acquired during graduate education might predict and facilitate postdoctoral attainment and scholarly productivity. The project also will provide novel insights into inequalities in early career researchers' (ECR) trajectories and outcomes and inform policies and interventions aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of graduate training and postdoctoral support mechanisms. The overarching framework for the study is Social Cognitive Career Theory. The research team proposes to integrate the social cognitive, socialization, and economic and sociological lenses to conduct a longitudinal study of 286 Ph.D. students as they complete their degrees and enter the workforce in the biological sciences. They will investigate four hypotheses: (1) Professional trajectories within the cognitive, community, and organizational careers of ECRs will reflect "Matthew Effects" in which small initial differences account for increasingly large differences over time. (2) Research skills, self-efficacy, and organizational career goals during graduate school will jointly predict initial attainment and persistence in a postdoctoral position. Variance explained by these factors for subsequent career trajectories will wane over time, and variance explained by indicators of successes within the community and organizational careers will increase. (3) The features and opportunities associated with postdoctoral positions will predict both linear and geometric trends in subsequent cognitive, community, and organizational career trajectories of ECRs, as well as persistence in a research career path. (4) Professional trajectories within the cognitive, community, and organizational careers of ECRs, including persistence in a research career path, will vary as a function of interactions between sociodemographic characteristics, skills development, and environmental factors. The researchers will use longitudinal structural equation modeling to estimate and characterize trajectories within each career type and to quantify anticipated "Matthew Effects". Longitudinal structural equation modeling also will be used to understand how trajectories are related to each other and to participants' skill development, motivational factors, and graduate/postdoctoral experiences, as well as how trajectories could vary by demographic characteristics. They will estimate a latent growth curve model for this purpose. The research results could generate new insights and interventions for diversifying the scientific workforce by facilitating more equitable outcomes.The project is supported by the ECR program that emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. ECR supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning and participation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.