Identifying Stakeholder Perceptions and Practices to Develop a Comprehensive Framework for Bioscience Industry Internships for Underrepresented Youth

本项目由学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划资助。生物科学领域正在发生变化，以跟上技术和科学创新的快速进步。这些领域需要多样化、训练有素的人员，他们能够利用尖端技术和深厚的科学知识满足劳动力需求。该项目通过创新的实习体验，使未被充分代表的高中生为生物科学工作者做好准备，从而满足了这一需求。该项目将在暑期带薪实习期间，将11年级和12年级的学生与来自生物科学行业的敬业导师配对。学生还将参加一个劳动力准备课程，重点是生物技术产业，这是他们高中课程的一部分。该项目将研究不同利益相关者的观点和做法，包括高中生物技术教师、学生和行业导师。对几类数据的分析将产生一个以经验为基础的综合框架，概述生物科学行业有影响力的实习的要素。研究结果将广泛传播给研究人员和从业人员，从而产生扩大生物科学劳动力参与的新方法。在25年为生物技术行业的高中生提供实习机会的基础上，Biotech Partners将反复研究和改进其实习干预措施，形成一个以经验为基础的框架，概述生物科学行业成功实习的特征。该项目将寻求回答以下研究问题：企业和行业员工以什么角色和方式激励来自不同代表性不足人群的学生意识到、感兴趣并为生物技术职业做好准备，并支持教师努力提高生物技术员工的意识和兴趣？实习干预将服务于300多名高中生，其中85%的学生认为自己是有色人种青年。实习干预包括一个高中课程，重点是生物技术行业的劳动力准备，课后辅导，以及生物技术公司的带薪暑期实习。研究参与者包括大约300名高中生；来自15个生物科学行业的行业代表；为实习提供便利的6名项目工作人员；以及4名高中教师。使用持续不断的比较分析技术，研究团队将对访谈和焦点小组的记录进行定性分析，并有目的地从每组研究参与者中选择一个子集。利用重复测量的方差分析，研究小组将对发给学生和导师的调查进行量化分析。该项目将促进对实习特点的了解，这些特点有助于在生物科学领域代表性不足的高中生中培养劳动力准备。该项目将形成一个全面的有影响力的实习框架，并将广泛传播给相关利益攸关方。这一框架旨在扩大对生物技术工作的参与。这一奖项反映了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。

This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Program. Bioscience fields are changing to keep pace with rapid advances in technologies and scientific innovations. These fields need diverse, prepared personnel who can meet workforce demands using cutting-edge technologies and a deep knowledge of science. This project meets this need by preparing underrepresented high school students for the bioscience workforce through innovative internship experiences. This project will pair eleventh- and twelfth-grade students with dedicated mentors from bioscience industries during paid summer internships. Students will also participate in a workforce preparation class, with an emphasis on biotechnology industries, as part of their high school coursework. The project will study the perspectives and practices of different stakeholders, including the high school biotechnology teachers, students, and industry mentors. The analysis of several types of data will result in an empirically-based, comprehensive framework that outlines the elements of impactful internships in bioscience industries. Findings will be widely disseminated to researchers and practitioners, resulting in new approaches for broadening participation in the bioscience workforce. Building from 25 years of providing internships for high school students in biotechnology industries, Biotech Partners will iteratively study and improve its internship intervention, resulting in an empirically-based framework that outlines the features of successful internships in bioscience industries. The project will seek to answer the following research question: In what roles and in what ways do business and industry workforce members motivate students from diverse underrepresented populations to become aware of, interested in, and prepare for biotechnology careers, and support teachers in efforts to promote biotechnology workforce awareness and interest? The internship intervention will serve over 300 high school students, 85% of whom identify as youth of color. The internship intervention includes a high school class focused on workforce preparation in biotechnology industries, after-school tutoring, and paid summer internships with biotechnology firms. Research participants include approximately 300 high school students; industry representatives from 15 bioscience industries; six program staff members who facilitate the internships; and four high school teachers. Using constant comparative analytic techniques, the research team will qualitatively analyze transcripts from interviews and focus groups with a purposefully-selected subset of each group of research participants. Using repeated measures analyses of variance, the research team will quantitatively analyze surveys given to students and mentors. This project will advance knowledge about the features of internships that foster workforce preparedness among underrepresented high school students in the biosciences. This project will result in a comprehensive framework for impactful internships that will be widely disseminated to relevant stakeholders. This framework will be designed to broaden participation in the biotechnology workforce.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.