Abstract
The number of biomedical sciences PhDs persisting in academic faculty careers has been declining. As one potential influence on trainees' intention to persist, we investigate the development of scientific communication (SC) skills, hypothesizing that attitudes and behaviors regarding scientific writing, speaking, and presenting predict academic research career intention, through science identity. After adapting a social-cognitive career theoretical model of SC to include science identity and mentor practices, we conducted a longitudinal survey of 185 doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among SC productivity, SC self-efficacy, SC outcome expectations, mentor practices in SC, science identity, and research career intention. Results confirmed the overall model and revealed additional specific pathways: SC productivity and SC outcome expectations directly predicted career intention; SC productivity and mentor practices predicted science identity through SC self-efficacy. Demographic factors did not predict intention when controlling for SC variables. Findings support a model of SC skill development as a predictor of research career intention (R2 = .32). The finding that SC language use predicts science identity has important sociolinguistic implications. The key factors in this process are actionable at the trainee, mentor, and institutional levels, suggesting potential for SC interventions to increase career persistence.
Highlights
The number of PhDs in biomedical sciences entering academic careers with the goal of becoming independent investigators has been declining in recent years
The final item level confirmatory factor model with one residual covariance at Time 3 for the current study provided a good fit with the data (χ2S-B [4] = 4.752, p> .05, comparative fit index (CFI) = .993, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = .983, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .035, 304 90% CI [.000, .132], SRMR = .025)
The six latent factors were allowed to co-vary, where scientific communication (SC) productivity was represented by 4 items, SC self-efficacy was represented by 3 subscales, SC mentoring practices by 3 subscales, science identity by 4 items, SC outcome expectations by 5 items, and career intention by 2 items
Summary
The number of PhDs in biomedical sciences entering academic careers with the goal of becoming independent investigators has been declining in recent years. Our previous cross-sectional study with biomedical sciences doctoral and postdoctoral trainees extended the SCCT model by examining the role of scientific communication as an ancillary, but necessary skill in the routine activities of a successful research career. Scientific communication productivity is the frequency with which a trainee had engaged in research-related writing, presenting (planned, rehearsed talks about research to an audience, whether at a major scientific meeting or a journal club), and speaking (asking questions after presentations, describing posters and answering questions) at Time 1 This operationalizes performance accomplishments in the SCCT model. Scientific communication which students develop career intentions, our model hypothesized that mentoring practices (as an operationalization of vicarious learning and social persuasion) and trainee SC productivity (as an operationalization of performance accomplishments) would have direct, positive effects on SC self-efficacy at Time 1. SC self-efficacy is a direct source of science identity, and SC productivity and SC mentoring practices are indirectly related to identity, through self-efficacy; 3. science identity directly predicts SC outcome expectations; 4. science identity predicts intention to pursue an academic research career, directly and indirectly, through outcome expectations
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