These are among the findings of a new study of URM student motivation just published in the journal CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE), by psychology researchers Matthew C. Jackson, Gino Galvez, and Isidro Landa, plus organic chemist Paul Buonora at California State University, Long Beach, and psychologist Dustin B. Thomas at San Diego State University. These findings, say the authors, demonstrate that all students, even within a definable subgroup, can have differing motives and career ideals. Taking these “intersectional identities” into account, the researchers say, undergraduate science educators should pay attention to culturally connected career motives within URM communities to “make science matter” to them.
Published by the American Society for Cell Biology, LSE is an open-access journal fostering excellence in life science education through peer-reviewed education research and evidence-based teaching. The special issue on broadening participation was edited by Kenneth Gibbs, Program Analyst at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, MD, and Pat Marsteller, Department of Biology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
All the research papers published in this issue, say the editors, are aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in “a vibrant scientific enterprise that continues to harness the contributions of those from traditionally well-represented backgrounds while fostering full participation and engagement of those from other backgrounds (e.g., women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, first-generation students, those from low-income backgrounds, etc.).”
Media contact: Thea Clarke, ASCB Director of Communications & Education, 301-347-9304, [email protected].
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CBE—Life Science Education, Fall 2016; DRL-1420271