Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Scholars in the Margins: Historically Excluded Postdoctoral Experiences in STEM

迫切需要为追求STEM职业道路的个人提供支持和欢迎的环境，以确保美国在提供世界一流的教育经验和受过教育的公民方面充分发挥其潜力。来自边缘背景的教师可以在提高学生对STEM教育项目和STEM职业的坚持率方面发挥重要作用。在美国，目前STEM领域的博士后学者中，黑人或非裔美国人、西班牙裔或拉丁裔美国人、美洲原住民、夏威夷原住民或其他太平洋岛民身份的人所占比例非常低。对于早期职业STEM学者来说，当个人决定是否继续在学术界工作时，博士后经历可能是最重要和最直接的考虑因素之一。很少有研究描述具有边缘身份的学者的博士后经历。本项目旨在研究少数族裔背景博士后的专业环境和个人环境对其自我效能感、STEM认同感、归属感、研究兴趣、交流成果和职业目标的影响。本研究旨在为包容性培训空间的开发和实施提供信息。该研究人员与为博士后学者服务的科学和专业协会建立了伙伴关系。了解科学身份与交叉身份之间的独特联系方式对扩大参与至关重要，这是博士后学者文献中的一个关键空白。早期的研究表明，博士后学者感到肯定和重视的环境背景可以帮助对抗排斥性的STEM文化规范，并建立归属感。目前还没有研究表明更广泛的科学界对博士后学者的STEM身份验证做出贡献的机制，也没有研究表明这在多大程度上是一个因素。本项目旨在考察学术机构和科学社团对博士后学者留用的影响。研究框架整合了认同沟通理论、STEM认同理论和社会认知职业理论。本研究旨在对来自边缘背景的博士后学者进行访谈，以研究他们的专业和个人环境与自我效能感、STEM身份发展、归属感、领域挑战、一般兴趣和科学传播结果之间的关系。该研究还旨在调查参与者预期的STEM职业道路。访谈结果旨在为相关调查的设计提供信息。研究结果还将用于与合作组织和合作者共同创建指南，为博士后培训空间提供基于证据的方法和专门针对边缘化博士后学者的指导。该项目由STEM教育博士后研究奖学金（STEM Ed PRF）计划资助，旨在提高STEM， STEM教育，教育和相关学科的近期博士的研究知识，技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究的准备，从而推进该领域的知识。该项目由Kaleta a . Doolin基金会与美国国家科学基金会合作资助，旨在促进STEM/STEM教育研究人员的多样性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is an urgent need to provide supportive and welcoming environments for individuals pursuing STEM career pathways to ensure that the United States meets its full potential in providing world-class educational experiences and an educated citizenry. Faculty members from marginalized backgrounds can serve vital roles in increasing the rates of persistence of students in STEM educational programs and STEM careers. In the United States, postdoctoral scholars in STEM fields currently have strikingly low representation of individuals with Black or African American, Hispanic or Latine, Native American, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander identities. For early-career STEM scholars, postdoctoral experiences can be one of the most important and immediate considerations when individuals are deciding whether or not to continue working in academia. Few studies exist that characterize the postdoctoral experiences of scholars with marginalized identities. This project aims to study the effects of professional and personal environments of postdoctoral scholars from minoritized backgrounds on self-efficacy, STEM identity, sense of belonging, research interests, communication outcomes, and career goals. This research is designed to inform the development and implementation of inclusive training spaces. The researcher has developed partnerships with scientific and professional societies that serve postdoctoral scholars. Understanding the unique ways in which science identity relates to intersectional identities is vitally important to broaden participation, and it is a critical gap in the literature on postdoctoral scholars. Early studies have shown that environmental contexts in which postdoctoral scholars feel affirmed and valued can help counter exclusionary STEM cultural norms and build a sense of belonging. There is no extant research to suggest the mechanisms by which the broader scientific community contributes to STEM identity validation in postdoctoral scholars, nor the extent to which this is a factor. This project aims to examine the influence of academic institutions and scientific societies on postdoctoral scholar retention. The research framework integrates the Communication Theory of Identity, STEM Identity Theory, and Social Cognitive Career Theory. This study is designed to conduct interviews with postdoctoral scholars from marginalized backgrounds to examine the relationship between their professional and personal environments and their self-efficacy, STEM identity development, sense of belonging, challenges in their fields, general interests, and science communication outcomes. The study also aims to examine participants’ intended STEM career pathways. Interview findings are intended to inform the design of a related survey. Findings will also be used to co-create a guide with partnering organizations and collaborators to inform postdoctoral training spaces with evidence-based approaches and mentorship that specifically centers marginalized postdoctoral scholars. This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.This project is partially funded by The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation through a partnership with the National Science Foundation to promote greater diversity within the STEM/STEM education research 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.