Co-Curricular Science Experiences Support Undergraduate Students' Science GPA, Degree Completion, Workforce Entry, and Motivation

초록

Science co-curricular experiences (SciXP)-such as research experiences and internships-are a common, yet understudied, strategy to enhance undergraduates' science career pursuit. Using a doubly robust method to account for initial differences in science motivation, academic readiness, and career intentions, we investigated whether SciXP participation across four years of college predicted undergraduates' (N = 1984) science achievement, career persistence, and motivation at the end of college and after graduation. Participation in science co-curricular experiences was positively associated with science GPA, earning a science degree, being in a more science-intensive career one to two years post-graduation, and viewing science as important and useful at the end of college. Follow-up analyses suggested these relations were generally stronger when SciXPs occurred earlier in college and across multiple years. SciXPs were especially associated with higher science achievement, degree attainment, and motivation of underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students and the science motivation of women, but not for first-generation students, particularly when SciXP participation occurred early in college. These findings suggest undergraduate science co-curricular experiences are an effective means for increasing the scientific workforce and that these benefits may be especially promising for women and for students with racial/ethnic identities that are underrepresented in STEM fields.

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