Research careers for Hispanic students: Testing the Multiple Worlds model

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的总体目标是研究西班牙裔高中学生在追求生物医学和行为科学职业方面的动机、信仰和行为的变化。该提案的主要创新包括：在教育的关键阶段接触到代表性不足的少数民族人口，在此背景下测试了一个重要的教育成就社会科学理论（Phelan、Davison和Yu的“多重世界”框架）；采用纵向多站点混合方法设计，将产生比典型研究更丰富的定量和定性数据。“多重世界”框架假定学生至少在三个世界中同时行动，以他们的学术、家庭和同龄人为特征。我们的主要研究问题是，Phelan的模型是否提供了描述和预测导致追求科学事业能力的教育轨迹的能力。该项目有三个具体目标：1。描述并比较芝加哥五所高中西班牙裔学生与其他种族学生追求生物医学/行为科学途径的纵向动机轨迹。我们假设不同种族和不同教育项目的学生之间存在显著差异。2. 研究西班牙裔学生的父母对生物医学/行为科学研究的知识和态度，并描述父母特征与学生轨迹之间的联系。我们假设，西班牙裔学生的轨迹差异将与父母对科学工作性质的理解密切相关。3. 研究学生轨迹与同龄人之间的社会网络关系。我们假设学生在他们的教育轨迹上倾向于与他们的同龄人相似，甚至控制了父母的特征，并且与同龄人的强烈联系将独立地促进或阻碍科学教育（取决于同龄人群体的价值观）。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this proposal is to examine changes in motivation, beliefs, and behaviors related to pursuing careers in biomedical and behavioral science among Hispanic high school students. The proposal's key innovations include access to an underrepresented minority population at a critical educational stage, testing an important social scientific theory of educational achievement (Phelan, Davison, and Yu's "multiple worlds" framework) in this context; and application of a longitudinal multi-site mixed-methods design that will produce richer quantitative and qualitative data than typical studies. The "multiple worlds" framework posits that students act simultaneously in at least 3 worlds, characterized by their academics, their family, and their peers. Our primary research question asks whether Phelan's model provides the ability to describe and predict educational trajectories leading to the ability to pursue scientific careers. The project has three specific aims: 1. To describe and compare longitudinal trajectories of motivation to pursue biomedical/behavior science pathways among Hispanic students compared with students of other ethnicities at five Chicago high schools. We hypothesize significant differences among students of different ethnicities and in different educational programs. 2. To examine parental knowledge and attitudes toward careers in biomedical/behavioral science research among Hispanic students, and describe associations between parental characteristics and student trajectories. We hypothesize that differences in trajectories among Hispanic students will be strongly associated with parental understanding of the nature of scientific work. 3. To examine social-network relationships between students' trajectories and those of their peers. We hypothesize that students will tend to resemble their peers in their educational trajectories, even controlling for parental characteristics, and that strong connections to peers will independently facilitate or deter scientific education (depending on the constellation of values in the peer group). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project contributes to public health by studying theories that suggest ways to increase the participation of underrepresented minority students, specifically Hispanic students, in careers in research in the biomedical and behavioral sciences