Encouraging Minority Undergraduates to Choose Science Careers: Career Paths Survey Results
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To explore the reasons for the dearth of minorities in Ph.D.-level biomedical research and identify opportunities to increase minority participation, we surveyed high-achieving alumni of an undergraduate biology enrichment program for underrepresented minorities. Respondents were asked to describe their career paths and to reflect on the influences that guided their career choices. We particularly probed for attitudes and experiences that influenced students to pursue a research career, as well as factors relevant to their choice between medicine (the dominant career choice) and basic science. In agreement with earlier studies, alumni strongly endorsed supplemental instruction as a mechanism for achieving excellence in basic science courses. Undergraduate research was seen as broadening by many and was transformative for half of the alumni who ultimately decided to pursue Ph.D.s in biomedical research. That group had expressed no interest in research careers at college entry and credits their undergraduate research experience with putting them on track toward a research career. A policy implication of these results is that making undergraduate research opportunities widely available to biology students (including “premed” students) in the context of a structured educational enrichment program should increase the number of minority students who choose to pursue biomedical Ph.D.s.
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The positive benefits of undergraduate research experiences have previously been demonstrated; undergraduate students have widely regarded their research experience as beneficial and have credited the research experience for developing self-confidence, analytical skills, independence, and motivation to learn.
“The positive benefits of undergraduate research experiences have previously been demonstrated; undergraduate students have widely regarded their research experience as beneficial [29], [39], [45] and have credited the research experience for developing self-confidence, analytical skills, independence, and motivation to learn [29], [31], [45].”
From Underrepresented Minority High School and College Students Report STEM-Pipeline Sustaining Gains After Participating in the Loma Linda University Summer Health Disparities Research Program (2014) · cites this paper as [29]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA resilient sense of efficacy will likely contribute to STEM course success for the ABC participants and may commit the high school students, early-on, to a STEM research career over a clinical or professional career.
“A resilient sense of efficacy will also likely contribute to STEM course success for the ABC participants, but, more importantly, it may commit the high school students, early-on, to a STEM research career over a clinical or professional career [22], [29], [30].”
From Underrepresented Minority High School and College Students Report STEM-Pipeline Sustaining Gains After Participating in the Loma Linda University Summer Health Disparities Research Program (2014) · cites this paper as [29]
The Results report that undergraduate research led some premedical students to pursue a biomedical Ph.D. rather than medical school, supporting the proposed shift toward research careers. But the study concerns undergraduates, not high school students, and it does not attribute course success or career choice to a resilient sense of efficacy; its course-success discussion concerns supplemental instruction. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredParticipation in undergraduate research can influence students' decisions to pursue postgraduate education or a research career in science.
“and influence students’ decisions to pursue postgraduate education or a research career in science (Hathaway et al., 2002; Villarejo et al., 2008; Carter et al., 2009; Schultz et al., 2011; Harsh et al., 2012).”
From Race and Gender Differences in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Structures and Research Outcomes (2017) · cites this paper as Villarejo et al., 2008
The 80% science-pipeline sustaining gains are consistent with what has previously been reported in the literature.
“80% reported science-pipeline sustaining gains consistent with what has previously been reported in the literature [25], [29], [35], [36], [39], [40].”
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Importance of Undergraduate Research for Minority Persistence and Achievement in Biology
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“A second set of surveys addressed to alumni from a program for URMs in biomedical science supported the importance of prosocial values in science career interest (Villarejo et al., 2008).”
BackgroundRace and Gender Differences in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Structures and Research Outcomes
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- Authors
- Villarejo, M., Barlow, A. E. L., Kogan, D., Veazey, B. D., & Sweeney, J. K.
- Affiliations
- *School of Education and
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Venue
- CBE—Life Sciences Education
- Published
- 2008-12
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 394-409
- ISSN
- 1931-7913 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2592049
- OpenAlex
- W2164266817
- Cited by
- 218
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 16.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- CBE—Life Sciences Education (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM072043)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Keywords
- underrepresented minorities, minority students, science career choice, biomedical research careers, Ph.D. programs, undergraduate research experience, supplemental instruction, career decision factors, diversity in science
- MeSH terms
- Workforce, Achievement, Career Choice, Data Collection, Education, Medical, Goals, Minority Groups, Research, Science, Students
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