The Role of Efficacy and Identity in Science Career Commitment Among Underrepresented Minority Students

TLDR

The study examined whether science support experiences influence science career commitment through mediation by science self‑efficacy and scientist identity. A web‑based survey of 327 undergraduates and 338 graduate students/postdoctoral fellows collected data on research, mentoring, community involvement, self‑efficacy, identity, and career commitment. Structural equation modeling confirmed the mediation model, showing that for undergraduates self‑efficacy and identity fully mediated support effects, while for graduate/postdoctoral participants all three mediators, including leadership/teamwork self‑efficacy, predicted commitment.

Abstract

A web-based survey of members of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science tested a model that proposed that the effects of science support experiences on commitment to science careers would be mediated by science self-efficacy and identity as a scientist. A sample of 327 undergraduates and 338 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows described their science support experiences (research experience, mentoring, and community involvement); psychological variables (science self-efficacy, leadership/teamwork self-efficacy, and identity as a scientist); and commitment to pursue a career in scientific research. Structural equation model analyses supported our predictions. Among the undergraduates, science (but not leadership/teamwork), self-efficacy, and identity as a scientist fully mediated the effects of science support experiences and were strong predictors of commitment. Results for the graduate/postdoctoral sample revealed a very similar pattern of results, with the added finding that all three psychological mediators, including leadership/teamwork self-efficacy, predicted commitment.