Sylvia Hurtado and Mitchell Chang, Principal Investigators

Items of Interest	Download PDF Article	Download Powerpoint Presentation
Thinking and Acting Like a Scientist: Investigating the Outcomes of Introductory Science and Math Courses. Paper presented at the Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, June 2, 2009.
We do science here: Underrepresented students in different college contexts. Association of Institutional Research Annual Forum, Atlanta, GA, June 1, 2009.
Stereotype Threat: Undermining the Persistence of Racial Minority Freshmen in the Sciences. American Educational Research Association in San Diego -Thursday, April 16 2009
Improving the rate of success for underrepresented racial minorities in the biological and behavioral sciences: Insights from a national project - HERI Brown Bag Presentation Feb. 12, 2009
A strong start in the sciences: Factors influencing minority students' academic and social engagement - First Year Experience Conference, Oralndo, FL 2/9/09
The Contradictory Roles of Institutional Status in Retaining Underrepresented Students in Biomedical and Behavioral Science Majors. (published in 2008 in the Review of Higher Education)
Diversifying science: Underrepresented student experiences in structured research programs - Paper presented at the 2008 Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Seattle, WA (also published in Research in Higher Education, 2009)
Diversifying science: Underrepresented student experiences in structured research programs - Paper presented at the 2008 Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Seattle, WA
2006-2007 NIH Progress Report: Year Three
Training Future Scientists: Predicting First-Year Minority Student Participation in Health Science Research (Paper presented at 2007 Annual AIR Conference in Kansas, MO)
2005-06 NIH Progress Report: Year Two
The Characteristics and Experiences of Minority Freshmen Committed to Biomedical and Behavioral Science Research Careers (Paper)
Predicting Transition and Adjustment to College: Minority Biomedical and Behavioral Science Students’ First Year of College
ASPIRING SCIENTISTS: Characteristics of College Freshmen Interested in the Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences
Access to Resources: Pre-college Characteristics and Experiences of Underrepresented Minority Students in the Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences
Minority Students Committed to the Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences: Intention to Make a Contribution to Scientific Research
NIH Progress Report: Spring 2005

Purpose
The specific aim of this comprehensive national project is to examine underrepresented student access to resources and forms of engagement that result in outcomes (skills, dispositions, and behaviors) necessary for a research career in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. The goal of the project is to:

• Generate new knowledge to guide the preparation and advancement of underrepresented students toward successful research careers
• Provide information on the diversity experiences, access to resources, and issues that impact the engagement of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American students attending a variety of institutions, including minority-serving institutions
• Inform educators by sharing national research findings, encouraging them to use the data locally, and inviting them to attend a forum to showcase successful practices
• The ultimate goal of the project is to assist colleges in their education of racial/ethnic minority students that can serve as role models and address important questions related to their population of origin through a research career.

Sponsor
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) external reviewers together with program staff selected this project as one of six R01 awards to support research that investigate the effectiveness of interventions that are intended to increase interest, motivation and preparedness for careers in biomedical research, with a particular interest in those interventions specifically designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical and behavioral research. The project includes all students since the findings will apply to undergraduate preparation for research careers.

The Project
The study draws on data from over 700 institutions that regularly participate in surveys at college entry, after the first year of college, and at the fourth year of college using the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) surveys at the Higher Education Research Institute. This allows campuses and researchers to monitor the experiences of large numbers of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American students at key transition points. Since institutions also receive their data on entering freshmen, and can participate in subsequent follow-ups, another aim is to encourage campuses to use the data and share findings on their own campuses with faculty in related disciplines. In an attempt to encourage broader conceptions of talent and its development in preparation for research careers, a study of introductory courses on selected campuses will also help determine whether students' grades are associated with the skills and dispositions needed for a research career.

Benefits to Participating Institutions
Participating institutions will consist of any campus that signs up for involvement in the 2004 CIRP Freshman Survey, Your First College Year (YFCY) administered in the spring of 2005 the first year of college, and a subsequent follow-up after students have selected their majors (College Student Surveys or CSS). Each instrument contains questions related to the project. In addition, a set of institutions will be invited to participate because they have extensive experience providing programs for under-represented students and encourage them to participate in undergraduate research programs that facilitate entry into biomedical and behavior science careers. Each campus benefits in these specific ways:

• As is typical with CIRP data, all data collected is returned to each campus with a normative report so that campuses can compare their students’ experiences with similar types of institutions. Data are also provided in a format that allows each campus to locally study their students and generate their own reports for specific audiences and program planning.
• Reports will be available online each year of the project to inform educators and faculty in the disciplines about students’ access, engagement, and aspirations to pursue research careers in the biomedical and behavioral science disciplines.
• Campuses can request special reports be generated by staff at HERI for their use from the surveys for a small additional cost.
• Representatives from campus will participate in forums to share data and to showcase promising practices that increase student motivation and participation in biomedical and behavioral science research among underrepresented students.
• NIH will be regularly informed about the activities of participating campuses and will be highlighted in presentations to staff so that they begin to have a working familiarity with campus efforts and interventions.

The NIH Project Team
Sylvia Hurtado, Co-Principal Investigator
Mitchell Chang, Co-Principal Investigator
Kevin Eagan, Research Analyst
Lorelle Espinosa, Research Analyst
Monica Lin, Research Analyst
Christopher Newman, Research Analyst
Jessica Sharkness, Research Analyst
Minh Tran, Research Analyst
Paolo Velasco, Research Analyst

For more information about the project, please email us at herinih@ucla.edu

Principal Investigators: Sylvia Hurtado, PhD and Mitchell Chang, PhD

Purpose
The specific aim of this comprehensive national project is to examine key individual and institutional factors that substantially increase the likelihood that undergraduates, particularly those from underrepresented racial minority (URM) backgrounds, will persist in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) majors, participate in the STEM workforce immediately after college, and/or pursue graduate or professional degrees in STEM fields.

The goals of the project are to:

• Identify general principles with the intention of informing practice to improve the rate of both STEM degree completion and advancement into graduate studies in related fields for all students
• Understand opportunity structures for URM STEM students
• Inform science education policy concerned with increasing diversity in STEM fields at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels

Sponsor
This study is sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP). STEP seeks to increase the number of students (U.S. citizens or permanent residents) receiving associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The award is classified as a Type 2 grant that supports educational research projects on associate or baccalaureate degree attainment in STEM.

The Project
The Becoming Scientists project is unique in that it will track a large cohort of STEM students longitudinally (from freshman year through six years after college entry) as they move into graduate school or science- and technology-related careers immediately after college. The study’s 2004 baseline survey contains substantial information on over 17,000 URM STEM aspirants attending 204 four-year colleges and universities across the U.S.* A resulting longitudinal database on approximately 65,000 students will be collected. Large samples are desirable to conduct analyses of institutional contextual effects with comparison groups that include underrepresented minority (African American, Latino/a, and Native American), White, and Asian American students in 31 STEM disciplines, as well as URM non-STEM students attending the same institutions. Using the most advanced statistical techniques, the approach focuses on those educational environments (peers, faculty relationships and other campus-facilitated interactions, and institutional characteristics) that have the greatest impact on student outcomes over and above students’ backgrounds and academic preparation.

Benefits to Participating Institutions
Participating institutions include campuses that administered the 2004 CIRP Freshman Survey (TFS) and the fourth-year follow-up 2008 College Senior Survey (CSS). Some campuses may have also participated in the 2005 Your First College Year (YFCY) survey. In addition, a set of institutions has been invited to participate due to their extensive experience providing programs for underrepresented students that encourage them to continue in STEM-related fields and future careers.

Each campus benefits in these specific ways:

• As is typical with CIRP data, all data collected is returned to the campus with a normative report so that university researchers and administrators can compare their students’ experiences with similar types of institutions. Data are also provided in a format that allows each campus to locally study their students and generate their own reports for specific audiences and program planning.
• Reports are made available online and highlight the progress of the study since its inception. Similarly, findings for this expanded project will be made available to inform educators and faculty in the disciplines about students’ access, engagement, and aspirations to pursue STEM careers.
• Campuses can request special reports be generated by staff at HERI for their use from the surveys for a small additional cost.
• Representatives from the NSF/NIH project team will participate in forums to share data and to showcase promising practices that increase student motivation and participation in STEM majors among underrepresented students.
• NSF will be regularly informed about the activities of participating campuses and will be highlighted in presentations to staff so that they begin to have a working familiarity with campus efforts and interventions.

The NSF/NIH Project Team
Sylvia Hurtado, Co-Principal Investigator
Mitchell Chang, Co-Principal Investigator
Kevin Eagan, Research Analyst
Lorelle Espinosa, Research Analyst
Monica Lin, Research Analyst
Christopher Newman, Research Analyst
Jessica Sharkness, Research Analyst
Minh Tran, Research Analyst
Paolo Velasco, Research Analyst

*This expanded sample of STEM majors is related to a concurrent National Institutes of Health (NIH) study of underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical and behavioral science research.

Alexander W. Astin and Helen S. Astin, Co-Principal Investigators; Jennifer A. Lindholm, Project Director

What is the level and intensity of spiritual experiences among today’s college students? How are spiritual searching and behavior changing on campus? And what does this mean for higher education institutions and students? Funded by the John Templeton Foundation, this major new program of research tracks the spiritual growth of students during their college years. The study employs a multi-institutional and longitudinal design to identify trends, patterns, and principles of spirituality and religiousness among college students. Eleven broad areas are covered: spiritual outlook/orientation/worldview; spiritual well being; religious/spiritual practices and behaviors; self-assessments of spirituality and related qualities; spiritual quest; spiritual/mystical experiences; attitudes toward religion/spirituality; religious affiliation/identity; theological/metaphysical beliefs; facilitators and inhibitors of spiritual behavior; and compassionate behavior. The study is designed to ensure that all students—regardless of their particular theological perspective or belief system—will be able to respond in a meaningful way.

A pilot survey was administered in Spring 2003 to approximately 12,000 undergraduate students attending a representative sample of 47 baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities who participated in the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey three years earlier. This longitudinal data will provide information on how the college experience impacts students’ spiritual life and development. A revised questionnaire will be administered in Fall 2004 to approximately 90,000 students comprising the entering freshmen classes at a representative sample of 150 baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities. Data from the survey will be widely disseminated in Spring 2005. The long-range design of the project anticipates additional longitudinal follow-ups and new freshman surveys to be conducted every three years to track students’ spiritual growth and assess changes and trends. The study also includes a qualitative component designed to assess the spiritual life of college students in more depth by conducting individual and focus group interviews.

For more details about this project, please click here.

Jennifer A. Lindholm, Helen S. Astin, and Alexander W. Astin, Principal Investigators

Building on our ongoing study of the trends, patterns, and principles of spirituality and religiousness among college students and how the college experience influences spiritual development this project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, focuses on how college and university faculty view the intersections between spirituality and higher education. Using data collected as part of the 2004-05 HERI Faculty Survey in conjunction with student data from the College Student Beliefs and Values (CSBV) Survey, we will examine how faculty beliefs and behaviors may influence students’ spiritual development during the undergraduate years. Data collected from the upcoming HERI Faculty Survey will also be used to explore how faculty view their own spiritual expression and development within the context of their academic careers and their institutional work environments.

For more details about this project, please click here.

Linda J. Sax, Principal Investigator

Although the field of higher education is saturated with studies on college impact, surprisingly little research examines whether college differentially affects men and women students. It is important to question how and why gender influences the college experience. Do the factors that influence student development operate differently for male and female students? In other words, do certain college environments or experiences have stronger or weaker effects on women than on men?

This book, The Gender Gap in College: Maximizing the Developmental Potential of Women and Men (released by Jossey-Bass in 2008), addresses these questions by analyzing the impact of college separately for male and female students. Data are drawn from a nationally representative sample of approximately 17,000 college women and men who completed both the 1994 CIRP Freshman Survey and the 1998 College Student Survey at 200 colleges and universities. The book examines the impact of college experiences on a comprehensive array of student outcomes in the areas of academic achievement, self-concept, life goals, career development, physical and emotional health, political and social attitudes, and satisfaction with college. The book also examines trends in the gender gap across numerous domains using 8 million CIRP responses between 1966-2006.

Linda J. Sax, Principal Investigator

Funded by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools (NCGS), this study informs the policy discussions regarding single-sex secondary schooling. CIRP Freshman Survey data from Fall 2005 are used to compare students from independent and Catholic single-sex high schools with graduates of independent and Catholic coeducational private high schools. The study focuses on students' academic preparation, self-confidence, attitudes, values and career interests.
Final Report

website: heri.ucla.edu/dle

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