For more than 30 years, there has been a nationwide effort to encourage students from underrepresented ethnic minorities to pursue careers in the sciences. Despite widespread intervention programs, there remains a significant under-representation of minority scientists engaged in biomedical and behavioral research in the United States. To date there have been few studies using appropriate matched samples to examine the effectiveness of such programs. A multidisciplinary research team from CSUSM is proposing a longitudinal, theory-driven, empirical evaluation of the NIH-sponsored Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program. RISE provides monetary support, training, research experience, mentoring, and graduate school preparation for minority college students in the biomedical sciences. Our study tracks the educational pathways of over 1300 minority science students from 45 campuses across the United States. Of the participating students, half are funded through NIH training programs (primarily RISE, with a few MARC and SCORE students). The other half of the students serve as nonexperimental matched controls, drawn from comparable universities and with similar demographics and prior accomplishments.
The aim of this study is to continue to track panel members across the next four years, as they move into graduate school and beyond. This will enable us to assess how the RISE program affects students'intention to pursue a scientific career, and also measure objective outcomes such as degrees attained, careers pursued, and scientific achievements. Additionally, we will look at what components of the RISE program (e.g., mentorship, research experience, financial assistance) contribute towards its effectiveness. Lastly, we will examine what types of psychological constructs, such as self-efficacy, scientific identity, values or goal-orientation, best predict and explain why program components work. Our research program will provide empirical data that can inform nationwide programs designed to encourage students from underrepresented ethnic groups to pursue careers in the sciences. Public Health Relevance Statement: African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Native Alaskan and Pacific Islander students consistently are consistently not proceeding at the same rate as White or Asian students resulting in a chronic underrepresentation of minority students pursuing careers in the biological, behavioral, or physical sciences (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005;Cook &C?rdova, 2006). Our quasi-experimental, longitudinal national study is designed to provide empirical data that can inform minority training programs (particularly the RISE program) about (a) what is working in the program, (b) for whom it works, and (c) why the program works.
African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Native Alaskan and Pacific Islander students consistently are consistently not proceeding at the same rate as White or Asian students resulting in a chronic underrepresentation of minority students pursuing careers in the biological, behavioral, or physical sciences (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005;Cook &C?rdova, 2006). Our quasi-experimental, longitudinal national study is designed to provide empirical data that can inform minority training programs (particularly the RISE program) about (a) what is working in the program, (b) for whom it works, and (c) why the program works.
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