This project in the Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology component of the Science and Society Program will examine international trainees' interpretations of and responses to the norms of research integrity that they encounter in US graduate programs in the physical and life sciences. It is hypothesized that 1) international trainees' experience of cultural differences complicates their transition into the US research environment and that 2) the standards and values they have learned in academic research outside the US can pose obstacles to their full understanding of US standards as they study and work in US universities. Since the 1980s, US research universities, scientific professional societies, and government agencies have promoted ethical conduct in science through research integrity education in graduate research training programs. Evaluating how trainees respond to such activities is crucial to their success. Previous research has shown that the prior experience of new trainees in research shapes their responses to research integrity education, and that their knowledge of the norms of research integrity varies with their undergraduate backgrounds in science. Today the backgrounds of science graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in US universities are particularly diverse: NSF data show that some 37% of graduate students and over 50% of postdoctoral fellows in US science and engineering programs are international trainees with previous science education in other countries. In this environment, creating and implementing successful research integrity education programs requires attention to cultural differences in trainees' ethical views and experiences of research practice. There are two specific aims of this project: 1) to identify and describe, using focus group methodology, the experiences of international research trainees as they enter and take part in US graduate and postgraduate programs in laboratory science, with specific attention to their perceptions and experiences of differences between the values, norms, and standard practices of academic research in the US and the countries of their previous science education; and 2) to identify and describe, using focus group methodology, the experiences of US- and non-US-trained research faculty who work with international trainees, with specific attention to their experiences of and responses to international trainees' cultural differences regarding research practice and its underlying values and norms. This project will provide empirical data about the beliefs, knowledge, and understanding of scientific integrity and responses to research integrity education of international trainees in relation to their previous non-US research experience. It will identify areas in which these trainees experience cultural differences and conflicting ethical, educational, and professional values and standards, and how these conflicts affect their training. This work will help research advisors, university administrators, and faculty of research integrity courses better understand the perspectives and needs of international graduate students and postdocs and how US institutions can better meet these needs. It will offer a conceptual framework for policy on research integrity education in multinational contexts and support research integrity in international collaboration.
