Are You a Scientist? Exploring Science Identity in a Structural Biology Outreach Program

Abstract

As part of the science community, scientists are agents of social influence that can impact a student's sense of belonging and participation in science. Students mentored in research experiences have an increase in science persistence, efficacy, and identity. To further investigate the effect of mentored research experiences on a student's science identity, we developed a research‐intensive outreach lab dedicated to instructing high school students and undergraduate research mentors on techniques used in structural biology. Lab participants expressed fluorescent proteins in bacteria and purified the proteins to subsequently determine the proteins' structure by X‐ray crystallography. The development of this outreach lab raised specific questions on the effectiveness of engaging students in science through outreach programs. Specifically, does an inquiry‐based science outreach program increase students' perception of themselves as a scientist by doing hands on experiments, group discussions and pre/post‐lab assignments? Prior to participation in the outreach program, a majority of the students already strongly identified as a science person. While the students' perceptions of themselves as a science person did not change, how students viewed scientists changed from impersonal to personal characteristics after completion of the program. Students indicated that the inclusive environment of the outreach program created an authentic sense of belonging in a research setting. Based on these results, future work will focus on modifying and expanding mentored research programs to engage a range of students in research experiences.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by Dr. Martin St. Maurice and the Marquette University Strategic Innovation Fund.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.