Choosing the Geoscience Major: Important Factors, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender
Choosing the Geoscience Major: Important Factors, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender
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选择地球科学专业：重要因素、种族/民族和性别
DOI：
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
K. Flessa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Philip J. Stokes;R. Levine;K. Flessa
摘要地球科学面临着双重招聘挑战：即将到来的劳动力短缺和缺乏多样性。已经遭受低能见度，地球科学并不像一般人口的构成无论是种族/民族或性别，是最不多样化的所有科学，技术，工程和数学领域在美国许多研究讨论招聘和多样性问题在科学和数学，但只有一小部分，并解决定量地球科学的障碍。我们在美国西南部的一所大型大学采访了31名现任和前任地球科学专业的学生（18名女性，13名男性; 8名西班牙裔，21名白人），收集了926个“关键事件”或影响专业选择的经历。这些严重事件按种族/民族和性别进行分类、排序和分析。我们发现，积极的经验，在入门课程，支持家庭成员，与地球科学相结合的个人特征，以及出色的实地经验是最常见的影响因素选择地球科学专业。虽然我们的样本并不大，但我们认为这些因素是改善招聘和留住员工的关键工具。西班牙裔学生比白色学生报告了更多的家庭因素和更多的消极家庭因素。西班牙裔学生也报告了较少的非正式户外体验和涉及个人因素的事件。男子报告的与职业和经济因素有关的危急事件多于妇女。在必修的非地球科学课程中，妇女报告的负面经历比男子多。这些发现表明，在其他领域代表性不足背后的社会文化因素可能同样阻碍地球科学的多样性。虽然地球科学专业有许多共同的经验，但只有西班牙裔学生和地球科学女性可能存在的微妙障碍的知识可以为招聘，教学和培训策略提供信息。
ABSTRACT Geoscience faces dual recruiting challenges: a pending workforce shortage and a lack of diversity. Already suffering from low visibility, geoscience does not resemble the makeup of the general population in terms of either race/ethnicity or gender and is among the least diverse of all science, technology, engineering, and math fields in the U.S. Many studies discuss recruiting and diversity issues in science and math, but only a small number consider—and address quantitatively—barriers in geoscience. We interviewed 31 current and former geoscience majors (18 women, 13 men; 8 Hispanics, 21 whites) at a large university in the southwestern U.S. to collect 926 “critical incidents,” or experiences that affected choice of major. These critical incidents were classified, sorted, and analyzed by race/ethnicity and gender. We found that positive experiences in introductory courses, supportive family members, personal characteristics that meshed with geoscience, and outstanding field experiences were the most commonly reported factors influencing the choice of a geoscience major. Though our sample was not large, we interpret these factors as crucial tools for improving recruitment and retention. Hispanic students reported more familial factors, and more negative familial factors, than white students. Hispanic students also reported fewer informal outdoor experiences and fewer incidents involving personal factors. Men reported more critical incidents related to career and economic factors than women. Women reported more negative experiences than men in required nongeoscience courses. These findings suggest that sociocultural factors behind underrepresentation in other fields may similarly impede diversity in geoscience. Although geoscience majors share many common experiences, knowledge of subtle barriers that may exist for only Hispanic students and women in geoscience can inform recruiting, teaching, and advisement strategies.