Investigating the Influence of Interpersonal Dynamics and Sociocultural Fit in STEM Research Apprenticeships

调查人际动态和社会文化契合度对 STEM 研究学徒的影响

• 批准号: 2301049
• 负责人: Rachael Robnett
• 金额: $ 112.42万
• 依托单位: University of Nevada Las Vegas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2027-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2301049&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigating; Influence; Interpersonal; Dynamics; Sociocultural

Efforts to broaden and diversify the STEM workforce include programs that engage undergraduate STEM students in conducting scientific research with faculty mentors. Although there is evidence that these mentoring relationships can be beneficial, there is also evidence of variations in student outcomes from these experiences. Existing research provides limited insight into why some students thrive in these mentored research experiences while others may struggle. The proposed research will investigate the influence of interpersonal dynamics and sociocultural background as potential mechanisms of variable outcomes of undergraduate research experiences. Findings could provide novel insights about how students and mentors may influence one another and how these interactions may be shaped by participants’ sociocultural values and interpersonal dynamics. Results from this research could be used to improve mentoring programs, especially those that aspire to attract students from marginalized backgrounds into the STEM workforce.The proposed research aims to advance the research mentoring literature by investigating underexplored dimensions of STEM research apprenticeships. The project will investigate how interpersonal dynamics and sociocultural fit may relate to student STEM research apprenticeship outcomes. Using a mixed-methods, sequential exploratory design and leveraging social exchange theory and community cultural wealth frameworks, project goals are to 1) understand student and mentor conceptualizations of interpersonal dynamics and sociocultural fit within research apprenticeships, 2) analyze longitudinal associations between student perceptions of sociocultural fit and academic attitudes and outcomes, and 3) explore the dynamics of mentoring relationships over time and identify pivotal moments that may influence perceptions of mentoring relationship quality. These goals will be addressed across three studies that focus on student and research mentor pairs – study 1: 35 mentoring pairs, study 2: 100 mentoring pairs, and study 3: 150 mentoring pairs) – who are involved in STEM research apprenticeships. Data collection on student outcomes will include assessment of student academic attitudes, future STEM career plans, and science inquiry aptitude. This research will be carried out in partnership with pre-existing summer research programs at colleges and universities that serve students from a range of sociodemographic backgrounds. Given that undergraduate STEM research apprenticeships are widely used as tools aiming to broaden and diversify the STEM workforce, the findings of the effort could have significant and transformative impacts across STEM disciplines, apprenticeship models, and institution types.This project is supported by NSF's Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program 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.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.

扩大STEM劳动力并使其多样化的努力包括让本科生在教师导师的指导下进行科学研究的计划。虽然有证据表明，这些指导关系可能是有益的，但也有证据表明，这些经历对学生的结果有所不同。现有的研究提供了有限的见解，为什么一些学生在这些指导的研究经验中茁壮成长，而另一些学生可能会苦苦挣扎。本研究将探讨人际动力学和社会文化背景对大学生研究体验结果变化的潜在影响机制。这些发现可能会为学生和导师如何相互影响，以及参与者的社会文化价值观和人际动态如何塑造这些互动提供新的见解。这项研究的结果可以用来改进指导计划，特别是那些渴望吸引边缘背景的学生加入STEM劳动力大军的计划。拟议的研究旨在通过调查STEM研究学徒的未被探索的维度来促进研究指导文献的研究。该项目将调查人际动态和社会文化契合度如何与学生STEM研究学徒阶段的结果相关。采用混合方法、顺序探索性设计，并利用社会交换理论和社区文化财富框架，项目目标是1)了解学生和导师对研究型学徒期间人际动态和社会文化契合的概念化，2)分析学生对社会文化契合的感知与学术态度和结果之间的纵向联系，3)探索辅导关系随时间的动态变化，并确定可能影响辅导关系质量感知的关键时刻。这些目标将通过三项侧重于学生和研究导师对的研究来实现--研究1：35个指导对，研究2：100个指导对，研究3：150个指导对)--他们参与STEM研究学徒计划。关于学生成绩的数据收集将包括对学生学术态度的评估，未来STEM职业生涯规划，以及科学探究能力。这项研究将与学院和大学现有的暑期研究项目合作进行，这些学院和大学为来自一系列社会人口背景的学生提供服务。鉴于本科生STEM研究学徒被广泛用作旨在拓宽和多样化STEM劳动力的工具，这一努力的结果可能会对STEM学科、学徒模式和机构类型产生重大和变革性的影响。该项目由NSF的核心研究(ECR)计划支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。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，认为值得支持。