Cargando…
The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields
Pathways to biomedical careers are not being pursued with equal vigilance among all students. Emerging research shows that historically underrepresented (HU) students who maintain a strong science identity are more likely to persist. However, the influence of social support on persistence is less st...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
American Society for Cell Biology
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755307/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31441719 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-01-0029 |
_version_ | 1783453206066495488 |
---|---|
author | Estrada, Mica Zhi, Qi Nwankwo, Ezinne Gershon, Robyn |
author_facet | Estrada, Mica Zhi, Qi Nwankwo, Ezinne Gershon, Robyn |
author_sort | Estrada, Mica |
collection | PubMed |
description | Pathways to biomedical careers are not being pursued with equal vigilance among all students. Emerging research shows that historically underrepresented (HU) students who maintain a strong science identity are more likely to persist. However, the influence of social support on persistence is less studied, especially as it relates to science identity among doctoral students. To fill this gap, a 1-year study to assess similarities and differences among 101 HU and majority biomedical doctoral students was conducted to measure the extent to which 1) they report equivalent experiences of social support, science identity, and intentions to persist; 2) their experiences of social support predict intentions to persist 1 year later; and 3) science identity mediates the relationship between social support and intentions to persist in biomedical career pathways. Data were collected using online surveys. Results indicated that science identity significantly mediated the relationship between professional network support and persistence a year later for majority students. In contrast, for HU students, science identity mediated the relationship between instrumental, psychosocial, friend and family support, and persistence a year later. These study results provide evidence that reinforcing mentoring programs and support systems will be beneficial, especially for HU students. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6755307 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | American Society for Cell Biology |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-67553072019-10-15 The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields Estrada, Mica Zhi, Qi Nwankwo, Ezinne Gershon, Robyn CBE Life Sci Educ Article Pathways to biomedical careers are not being pursued with equal vigilance among all students. Emerging research shows that historically underrepresented (HU) students who maintain a strong science identity are more likely to persist. However, the influence of social support on persistence is less studied, especially as it relates to science identity among doctoral students. To fill this gap, a 1-year study to assess similarities and differences among 101 HU and majority biomedical doctoral students was conducted to measure the extent to which 1) they report equivalent experiences of social support, science identity, and intentions to persist; 2) their experiences of social support predict intentions to persist 1 year later; and 3) science identity mediates the relationship between social support and intentions to persist in biomedical career pathways. Data were collected using online surveys. Results indicated that science identity significantly mediated the relationship between professional network support and persistence a year later for majority students. In contrast, for HU students, science identity mediated the relationship between instrumental, psychosocial, friend and family support, and persistence a year later. These study results provide evidence that reinforcing mentoring programs and support systems will be beneficial, especially for HU students. American Society for Cell Biology 2019 /pmc/articles/PMC6755307/ /pubmed/31441719 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-01-0029 Text en © 2019 M. Estrada et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2019 The American Society for Cell Biology. “ASCB®” and “The American Society for Cell Biology®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License. |
spellingShingle | Article Estrada, Mica Zhi, Qi Nwankwo, Ezinne Gershon, Robyn The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title | The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title_full | The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title_fullStr | The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title_full_unstemmed | The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title_short | The Influence of Social Supports on Graduate Student Persistence in Biomedical Fields |
title_sort | influence of social supports on graduate student persistence in biomedical fields |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755307/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31441719 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-01-0029 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT estradamica theinfluenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT zhiqi theinfluenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT nwankwoezinne theinfluenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT gershonrobyn theinfluenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT estradamica influenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT zhiqi influenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT nwankwoezinne influenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields AT gershonrobyn influenceofsocialsupportsongraduatestudentpersistenceinbiomedicalfields |