Religion and the Professional Development of Graduate Students in the Sciences

该项目研究宗教是否对受训科学家构成社会和心理障碍。具体来说，它研究了科学研究生的宗教身份，信仰和行为之间的关联，以及他们作为一个科学家的身份和他们作为一个科学家的未来的信心。 假设进行测试，宗教和这些专业成果之间的任何关联的解释是宗教学生的负面刻板印象和耻辱，社交网络，是不那么封闭周围的其他科学家的看法，以及对家庭和工作的愿望。 研究结果将增加对阻碍个人进入或留在科学领域的障碍的理解，这些障碍可能是社会和心理上的。 这将有助于提高科学家的产量和多样性。采用两种方法来解决研究的问题。 一个是对调查结果的统计分析，调查将对五个学科和每个学科十二个系的研究生进行随机抽样，按学科和系的声望分层。 这五门学科是物理学、生物学、化学、心理学和社会学。 关键问题涉及受访者的宗教和价值观，并评估受访者作为科学家的身份和信心，对耻辱的看法和社会关系。 另一种方法包括在五个地点进行五十次半结构化面试，在这些地点可以进行几个学科的面试。 访谈反馈将增加调查分析结果的深度，并有助于确定有效的政策和做法，以消除障碍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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。

This project studies whether religion presents a social and psychological barrier for scientists-in-training. Specifically, it examines the association between science graduate students' religious identities, beliefs, and behaviors and both their identification as a scientist and their confidence in their future as a scientist. The hypotheses are tested that any association between religion and these professional outcomes is explained by religious students' perceptions of negative stereotypes and stigma, social networks that are less closed around other scientists, and aspirations concerning family and work. Findings will increase understanding of the barriers preventing individuals from entering or remaining in science, which may be social and psychological. This will benefit efforts to increase the production and diversity of scientists. Two methods are employed to address the questions of the study. One is statistical analysis of responses to a survey, which will be administered to a random sample of graduate students from five academic disciplines and twelve departments for each discipline, stratified by discipline and departmental prestige. The five disciplines are physics, biology, chemistry, psychology, and sociology. Key questions concern respondents' religion and values and assess respondents' identity and confidence as a scientist, perceptions of stigma, and social ties. The other method consists of fifty semi-structured interviews to be conducted in five locations where interviewing in several disciplines is possible. Interview responses will add depth to findings from analysis of the survey and will facilitate the identification of effective policies and practices to remove barriers.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.