Science and Non-Science Majors in Three Predominantly Black Colleges

Abstract

Determining and evaluating the characteristics of scientists has long been an object of investigation. This activity has been prompted by the important role that science and scientists play in modern society and in the academic institutions. This interest has been sharpened by the assumption that a knowledge and understanding of various factors relative to the development of scientists can be used to identify potential scientists among college youth. One of the major investigations which attempted to identify characteristics of scientists and potential scientists was that of the Science Careers Project of the Horace Mann-Lincoln Institute of School Experimentation at Columbia University in 1956. One phase of this investigation was a review of more than two hundred research studies in the identification of scientific capabilities and in motivation in scientific career selection. Donald E. Super and Paul E. Bachrach are the authors of the monograph containing the published findings of this research. In an overview of the findings of their review of literature on the characteristics of scientists, Super and Bachrach use three classifications: natural scientist, mathematician, and engineer. Regarding intellectual status, they say: