MARCU*STAR in Action in Contrasting University Settings seeks to clarify the relationship between science curriculum, federal policy, and identity formation by providing a comprehensive description and analysis of the long-standing NIH intervention, MARCU*STAR (Minority Access to Research Careers, Undergraduate Science Training and Research), whose purpose is to increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities in careers as research scientists. Using a longitudinal, contextualized, multidisciplinary and multi-method research design, it will provide (i) a well-theorized and empirically-based model of how minority youth move, in the standard and enriched MARCU curriculum, from being science majors to novice researchers, with an eye toward graduate school and careers as research scientists, (ii) an evidentiary baseline of what MARCU*STAR's curriculum is in practice, (iii) the often tacit assumptions about race/ethnicity, science, and the federal role in health and education that undergird the curriculum, and (iv) suggestions for modifying practice and policy that derive from the research knowledge. The research is important and relevant to health because the persisting under-representation of some minorities in science threatens the legitimacy of the science community, public support for the federal resources science commands, and knowledge production and knowledge utilization in the biomedical sciences.
