Science That Matters: The Importance of a Cultural Connection in Underrepresented Students’ Science Pursuit

“Following procedures outlined for conventional and directed content analysis (Hsieh and Shannon, 2005), G.”

“, 2007, 2009), carry the burden of worrying that his or her performance will be judged through a stereotyped lens (Steele and Aronson, 1995; Chang et al., 2011), and feel uncertain about whether he or she can develop a sense of belonging in the science community (Darling et al.”

“A voluminous body of research driven by stereotype threat theory (Steele, 1992, 1997)—which posits that the academic underperformance of underrepresented students can be partly explained by an anxiety caused by the fear that others’ judgments of their actions will be perceived as confirming…”

“…from a URM group does not directly experience overt discrimination, he or she is likely to face regular experiences with racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007, 2009), carry the burden of worrying that his or her performance will be judged through a stereotyped lens (Steele and Aronson,…”

“Constant comparative methods were used to determine saturation (Glaser, 1965).”

“…body of evidence showing that attending to ways in which science can help students embody their personal values is an important aspect of science education, but even more so for particular groups of students (Hulleman and Harackiewicz, 2009; Hulleman et al. 2010; Harackiewicz et al., 2014, 2015).”

“Further, early class performance expectations are correlated with actual performance (grades), interest in classes, and subsequent interest in the field (Harackiewicz et al., 2000).”

“Next, we tested the model again, this time controlling for students’ performance expectations, because differences in performance expectations have been used to explain groupbased differences in interest (Lent et al., 1986; Lapan et al., 1996).”

“Participants completed a six-item scale measuring how strongly they identified with being a scientist (α = 0.88 at time 1, α = 0.91 at time 2; adapted from Chemers et al., 2011).”

“…body of evidence showing that attending to ways in which science can help students embody their personal values is an important aspect of science education, but even more so for particular groups of students (Hulleman and Harackiewicz, 2009; Hulleman et al. 2010; Harackiewicz et al., 2014, 2015).”

“This alarming pattern has inspired several recent interventions to empirically test ways to reduce achievement gaps between FG and CG students (e.g., Smeding et al., 2013; Harackiewicz et al., 2014; Stephens et al., 2014).”

“CBE Life Sci Educ September 1, 2016 15:ar42 15:ar42, 2 CBE—Life Sciences Education • 15:ar42, Fall 2016 URM students, amplifying the lack of belonging that many URM students face (Smedley et al., 1993; Hurtado et al., 1996; Cabrera et al., 1999).”

“…from a URM group does not directly experience overt discrimination, he or she is likely to face regular experiences with racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007, 2009), carry the burden of worrying that his or her performance will be judged through a stereotyped lens (Steele and Aronson,…”

“CBE Life Sci Educ September 1, 2016 15:ar42 15:ar42, 2 CBE—Life Sciences Education • 15:ar42, Fall 2016 URM students, amplifying the lack of belonging that many URM students face (Smedley et al., 1993; Hurtado et al., 1996; Cabrera et al., 1999).”

“CBE Life Sci Educ September 1, 2016 15:ar42 15:ar42, 2 CBE—Life Sciences Education • 15:ar42, Fall 2016 URM students, amplifying the lack of belonging that many URM students face (Smedley et al., 1993; Hurtado et al., 1996; Cabrera et al., 1999).”

“Focus groups are an ideal methodology to generate nuanced domain-specific content and are particularly useful in identifying and understanding culturally specific knowledge and meaning that members of a group share (Hughes and DuMont, 1993; Suzuki et al., 1999).”

“Negative racial experiences are not exclusively experienced by URM students, and students from all groups who report negative racial experiences early in their collegiate careers tend to report a lower sense of belonging, seeing themselves as less of a part of their campus communities relative to their peers (Hurtado…”

“…report experiencing negative campus climates that can generate a conflict between their cultural identities and science learning environments (Cole and Espinoza, 2008), and many URM students struggle to integrate their cultural identities with an emerging identity as a scientist (Chang et…”

“However, in one sample, URM biomedical or behavioral science students who had such negative experiences early in their collegiate careers were shown to be more negatively impacted academically relative to their white or Asian peers (Hurtado et al., 2007).”

“…body of evidence showing that attending to ways in which science can help students embody their personal values is an important aspect of science education, but even more so for particular groups of students (Hulleman and Harackiewicz, 2009; Hulleman et al. 2010; Harackiewicz et al., 2014, 2015).”

“URM students report experiencing negative campus climates that can generate a conflict between their cultural identities and science learning environments (Cole and Espinoza, 2008), and many URM students struggle to integrate their cultural identities with an emerging identity as a scientist (Chang et al., 2011; Tran…”

“…Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians place greater significance on the value of helping others through one’s work, particularly giving back to one’s community (Martin and Martin, 1985; Harper, 2005; Fryberg and Markus, 2007; Torres, 2009; Villarruel et al., 2009; Mohatt et al., 2011).”

“Interviews with URM scientists who have chosen against academic careers indicate that they are questioning the direct relevance of their pursuit of science (Gibbs and Griffin, 2013).”

“, curiosity, enjoyment of problem solving, passion for discovery), the career interests of URM students are also more likely to be influenced by prosocial cultural values than the career interests of their peers (Johnson, 2002; Thoman et al., 2015).”

“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).”

“In addition to these interview and retrospective self-report studies, recent findings from a prospective longitudinal study of advanced undergraduates support similar conclusions (Thoman et al., 2015).”

“Next, we tested the model again, this time controlling for students’ performance expectations, because differences in performance expectations have been used to explain groupbased differences in interest (Lent et al., 1986; Lapan et al., 1996).”

“These students often do not see themselves as fitting their perceived images of scientists (Greenhalgh et al., 2004) and subsequently can lose interest in and disengage from science, typically switching to majors and career paths they perceive as more congruent with their cultural orientations.”

“…Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians place greater significance on the value of helping others through one’s work, particularly giving back to one’s community (Martin and Martin, 1985; Harper, 2005; Fryberg and Markus, 2007; Torres, 2009; Villarruel et al., 2009; Mohatt et al., 2011).”

“…Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians place greater significance on the value of helping others through one’s work, particularly giving back to one’s community (Martin and Martin, 1985; Harper, 2005; Fryberg and Markus, 2007; Torres, 2009; Villarruel et al., 2009; Mohatt et al., 2011).”

“IN SCIENCE Students from all backgrounds value tasks and careers that afford opportunities to work with and/or help others (Sansone and Morgan, 1992; Isaac et al., 1999), but individuals from different cultural backgrounds place greater emphasis on these prosocial values than others.”

“…Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians place greater significance on the value of helping others through one’s work, particularly giving back to one’s community (Martin and Martin, 1985; Harper, 2005; Fryberg and Markus, 2007; Torres, 2009; Villarruel et al., 2009; Mohatt et al., 2011).”

“IN SCIENCE Students from all backgrounds value tasks and careers that afford opportunities to work with and/or help others (Sansone and Morgan, 1992; Isaac et al., 1999), but individuals from different cultural backgrounds place greater emphasis on these prosocial values than others.”

“CBE Life Sci Educ September 1, 2016 15:ar42 15:ar42, 2 CBE—Life Sciences Education • 15:ar42, Fall 2016 URM students, amplifying the lack of belonging that many URM students face (Smedley et al., 1993; Hurtado et al., 1996; Cabrera et al., 1999).”

“This alarming pattern has inspired several recent interventions to empirically test ways to reduce achievement gaps between FG and CG students (e.g., Smeding et al., 2013; Harackiewicz et al., 2014; Stephens et al., 2014).”

“…Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians place greater significance on the value of helping others through one’s work, particularly giving back to one’s community (Martin and Martin, 1985; Harper, 2005; Fryberg and Markus, 2007; Torres, 2009; Villarruel et al., 2009; Mohatt et al., 2011).”

“…of worrying that his or her performance will be judged through a stereotyped lens (Steele and Aronson, 1995; Chang et al., 2011), and feel uncertain about whether he or she can develop a sense of belonging in the science community (Darling et al., 2008; Chang et al., 2011; Tran et al., 2011).”

“Focus groups are an ideal methodology to generate nuanced domain-specific content and are particularly useful in identifying and understanding culturally specific knowledge and meaning that members of a group share (Hughes and DuMont, 1993; Suzuki et al., 1999).”

“For instance, in her case study of TRIO students in a learning community course at a Research 1 institution, Jehangir (2010) used multicultural curriculum and critical pedagogy to illustrate how the framework can bring “students’ narratives, stories, and lived experiences into academic spaces .”

“That is, the experience of being a person of color from a lowincome background facilitates a commitment to remain connected to and to support family members at home (see Covarrubias & Fryberg, 2015; Jackson et al., 2016; Jehangir et al., 2015; Nelson, Englar-Carlson, Tierney, & Hau, 2006; Vasquez-Salgado et al., 2015)…”

“Work on student affect suggests that this grittiness—defined as perseverance and passion in the pursuit of long-term goals—may spring from differences in motivation, with URM and first-generation students more likely to be driven by a commitment to help their families and broader communities than their well-represente…”