Diverse Undergraduate Students Research Articles

Balancing career goals and parenthood desires: results from a survey of undergraduate pre-health students at a hispanic-serving institution in Texas

Objective To examine family planning and fertility experiences and views, as well as desired parenthood timing and career plans, of diverse undergraduate pre-health students. Participants 266 pre-health undergraduate students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution in South Texas. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, online survey with a purposive sample of undergraduate students and analyzed data descriptively. Results Most students desired children in the future but were concerned about planning the timing of parenthood against their career training. The results highlight the need to improve both family planning and fertility knowledge, based on a high unmet need for contraceptives, low perceived knowledge about fertility/infertility treatment, and a desire to learn more about planning the timing of their career training alongside parenthood. Conclusions This study highlights potential gaps in reproductive health information and services among diverse, health-focused students needed to inform choices about the timing of their families and career training.

The ASLO Multicultural Program: 34 Years of Leading the Way for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Success

AbstractThe ASLO Multicultural Program (ASLOMP) began in 1990 to promote diversity in the aquatic sciences. It involves brining diverse undergraduate and graduate students to annual ASLO meetings. The students participate in special programing that includes an opening dinner and keynote speaker, a student symposium where they present their work, a field trip, and work with meeting mentors. Between 1990 and 2023, 1443 different students participated in ASLOMP. They were a diverse lot; 43.0% African American, 33.0% Hispanic, 6.4% white, 6.4% Native American, 5.3% Pacific Islander, 3.5% Asian, and 2.4% other. Participants have gone on to be the first persons of color to serve on the ASLO Board of Directors and to assume other leadership positions in the society. Many former ASLOMP participants have gone on for advanced degrees and often return as mentors in the program. The ASLOMP model has been adopted by various other scientific societies including the Ecological Society of America (Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability ‐ SEEDS), the Society of Wetland Scientists, Sigma Xi, and the Coastal and Estuarine and Research Federation. The founding of ASLOMP demonstrated the usefulness of empowered allies in leading efforts to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

What Predicts Undergraduate Students’ Decision to Pursue a Career in Biomedical/Behavioral Research within an Upper-Division Research Training Program? A Study of Trainees’ Science Identity and Educational Outcomes

This study examined how science identity and positive educational outcomes relate to student trainees’ decision to pursue a research career in health-related sciences, within the context of a two-year research training program that prepares diverse undergraduate students for a research career. In analyses using the evaluation data, science identity and one of the positive educational outcomes significantly predicted trainees’ decision to pursue a research career in biomedical and behavioral sciences. In general, students with stronger science identity and interest in pursuing research in academia exhibited a firmer decision to pursue a research career in sciences. In a separate analysis that examined the associations between the trainees’ decision to pursue a health-related research career and their underrepresented minority identities, gender, and disciplinary track, results revealed that: (1) the interaction between trainees’ disciplinary track (i.e., biomedical vs. behavioral sciences) and their underrepresented minority status was associated with their decision to pursue a research career, but (2) the gender x disciplinary track interaction was not. Emphasizing the need for supporting diverse undergraduate trainees to solidify their science identity and preparing them for a research career in academia, we discuss implications of our findings for research training programs with similar aims.

Effects of COVID-19 Mandates on College Students’ Exercise Experiences and Psychosocial Health

Based on the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide, especially among young adults and women who were hit the worst, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Exercise participation has several health benefits, including improved mental health and well-being during covid-19. Additionally, the highest levels of health and well-being are observed among those with the highest levels of autonomy. Given that autonomy and free will were significantly limited during the Covid-19 pandemic, the purpose of this study was to examine how covid-19 mandates influenced college students’ exercise experiences and psychosocial health. The participants included 13 ethnically diverse undergraduate students (females = 10; males = 3; Asian = 5; Latino/Hispanic = 4; Caucasian = 3; Native American = 1) of varied educational backgrounds. This was a phronetic, qualitative study within two university (U) settings: one on the West Coast (WU) and the other in the South (SU). Based on the phronetic analysis, three themes emerged regarding the effects of lockdowns, heavy screen use, and mask mandates. In the first theme, most students, especially those with longer stay-at-home mandates (WU), expressed decrements in or complete cease of exercise participation. In the second theme, a few students found more time to socialize and reflect on their well-being. In the third theme, negative psychosocial experiences (especially in WU) were reported like depression, anxiety, and challenges in social relationships. Kinesiology experts and public health officials should reconsider covid-19 mitigation measures by respecting human agency.

Is Science Identity a Predictor or an Outcome of Learning Research Skills? Analyses of Evaluation Data from a Training Program to Enhance Research Career Preparation of Diverse Undergraduate Students

This study examined the role of science identity in a two-year upper-division research training program that prepares diverse undergraduate students for a research career. Using the annual year-end student evaluation data, we examined whether science identity is a predictor or an outcome of learning that enhances career preparation in biomedical research. Results showed that science identity is a predictor of learning in our trainees. In general, students with stronger science identity at the end of Year 2 reported having acquired more research skills and experiences through the program. This finding demonstrates that science identity makes learning research skills meaningful and purposeful. Preliminary analyses also showed that the levels of science identity did not differ between Years 1 and 2. In fact, science identity approached the maximum possible scores in both years. These findings imply that the training program could have succeeded in bolstering participants’ science identity early by the end of the first year. Our findings do not rule out the possibility that science identity is both a predictor and an outcome of learning, depending on the specific contexts of learning as well as learners’ specific developmental phases. Further studies are needed to systematically test these and other possibilities.

Knowing Your Field Community: Elevating the Human Dimension in Ecological Research and Teaching.

Public health researchers have long been aware of the importance of defining the human community associated with research on environmental health initiatives. However, the field community's human components where applied ecology research is conducted, e.g. diverse participants and perspectives, are often overlooked in environmental problem solving. We outline a framework for elevating the human dimension in defining the field community in applied ecology research and for teaching diverse undergraduate students the skills needed to address Anthropocene environmental concerns. We promote broadening participation and incorporating cultural and racial perspectives in ecology research planning, implementation, and teaching. We use the environmental research problem of concern to identify the diverse human community groups potentially connected to the problem and guide the strategies for incorporating their perspectives in the proposed research project. Which human community, whether local, ethnic, or visiting public community, affects the resource management strategy, i.e. people protect what they love, can change the outcomes of applied ecological research, as well as promote development of a diverse environmental workforce. Broadening participation and perspectives means that the people asking the research questions are also part of the social ecological community processes who choose which questions to pursue to manage the natural resources of the community. Here, we promote research and teaching practices that consider the long-standing multicultural connections to nature to allow all students to pursue their love of nature and its beauty in a safe, comfortable, and mentoring setting. We integrate current human diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused pedagogical knowledge into the Ecological Society of America-endorsed 4DEE multidimensional curricular framework. We provide a faculty action guide to engage and train diverse students in ecological practices that meet the needs of today's environmental problem-solving workforce.

Teaching Undergraduate Students about Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Assessment and Pedagogical Challenges

Purpose: Diverse undergraduate students can play a critical role in increasing the number of culturally competent clinicians in the future. However, exploring how these students develop cultural and linguistic awareness is crucial. This study examined the development and assessment of cultural and linguistic awareness among a diverse group of undergraduate students who completed a dedicated course on cultural and linguistic diversity in communication disorders. Method: We conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses to evaluate student growth. Ninety-seven undergraduate students from a public Hispanic-Serving Institution completed an adaptation of the ASHA's Cultural Competence Checklist: Personal Reflection at the beginning and end of a 16-week dedicated course. We analyzed the item responses using a paired t-test, and factor analyses were run to explore the potential presence of underlying constructs. We also analyzed open-ended students' reflections at the end of the semester. Results: Students exhibited significant gains in cultural awareness. The exploratory factor analyses of the Personal Reflection responses at the beginning and end of the semester resulted in similar percentages of explained variance but by different item groupings. Students' reflections converged into two broad categories: (1) topics related to the course content and (2) student comments reflecting internal processes. Conclusions: A dedicated course with relevant content may positively influence growth in cultural awareness in diverse undergraduate students. We discuss pedagogical challenges and potential mitigating approaches to develop and evaluate cultural awareness. Overall, our study offers insights into the development of cultural understanding among diverse undergraduate students and provides actionable recommendations for promoting a more inclusive and culturally responsive learning environment.

Unsettling fieldwork: Reflections of Whiteness and anti‐racist practice in the pedagogies of fieldwork

AbstractThis commentary considers the racialised lens through which fieldwork, as a pedagogic practice in Geography, is constructed and experienced. Prompted by narratives in the seminal paper ‘Muddy glee’ exploring the gendered aspects of fieldwork, and my own experiences of delivering undergraduate fieldwork with demographically diverse undergraduate students from a London University, the paper offers a rationale for adopting anti‐racist pedagogic practices in fieldwork. The universality of field experience is questioned as I reflect on how it is shaped by and mediated through racialised societies and spaces. The paper argues for the adoption of an active and explicitly anti‐racist approach to fieldwork with academic teachers and their departments addressing how field practices are shaped by the normative Whiteness of our discipline and, more specifically, White Privilege. The paper continues by offering some actions that field leaders can take to ensure anti‐racist practices in their fieldwork. It concludes by reiterating the positive tone of ‘Muddy glee’ by encouraging colleagues to challenge themselves to actively manage their field practices in ways that support ‘rigorous and critical reflexivity’ (Bracken & Mawdsley, 2004, Area, 36, 282), while centring the well‐being of all our students.

Too much of a good thing: Differentiating intellectual humility from servility in higher education

ABSTRACT Recent studies have suggested that intellectual humility (IH) might facilitate (a) better learning outcomes, (b) more scientific mindedness, and (c) better peer and professional relationships. However, recent philosophical work has raised concerns that too much IH might lead to intellectual servility (IS), and thus might be vicious (albeit not blameworthy) rather than virtuous. We define IS as a disposition to over-own one’s intellectual limitations and disregard one’s intellectual strengths. We begin by outlining the importance of distinguishing IS from IH, noting that marginalized social groups (e.g., students of color) may be at greater risk for developing the vice of IS than the vice of intellectual arrogance. Then, in a sample of 94 racially diverse undergraduate students, we provide evidence that IS may be detrimental in educational contexts. IS was positively related to maladaptive perfectionism, and it was negatively related to civic engagement, conscientiousness, and openness. We conclude by discussing implications for fostering virtuous IH in higher educational settings. Namely, if IH interventions do not correct for the possibility of over-owning limitations, we risk exacerbating IS.

Infusing disability equity within rehabilitation education and practice: A qualitative study of lived experiences of ableism, allyship, and healthcare partnership.

BackgroundAddressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become central in implementing inclusive and socially responsible rehabilitation education and clinical practice. Yet, the constructs of disability and d/Deaf identity and culture, as well as ableism and allyship are often overlooked. Or, these concepts are approached using outdated philosophical perspectives that pathologize disability and fail to prioritize the lived experiences, expertise, intersectionality, and self-identified needs of people with disabilities. A Critical Disability Studies (CDS) framework may provide a background for better understanding and responding to these issues through allyship.PurposeThis study employed a CDS framework to understand the lived experiences of ableism and allyship from faculty, staff, and students on University of Washington (UW) campuses who identify as d/Deaf, disabled/with a disability, or as having a chronic health condition.MethodsDuring 2020–2021, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 22 diverse undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff with disabilities, one third who also identified as people of color. Encounters were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using constant comparison until themes emerged.ResultsFour major themes that emerged from the data are: (1) Ever-present ableism in healthcare, (2) Ableism at the intersections, (3) COVID: Surfacing ableism and expanding access, and (4) Disability allyship and healthcare partnership building. Experiences of ableism and allyship were identified at individual, group/unit, and institutional/systemic levels, though participants reported significantly fewer instances of allyship compared to experiences of ableism. Participants identified intersections between disability and other marginalized identities and juxtaposed the benefits of widespread adoption of many access-increasing practices and technologies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also highlighting ways in which the pandemic created new obstacles to inclusion.ConclusionsThis analysis provides insights into ways of implementing inclusive practices in rehabilitation education, practice, and beyond. Rehabilitation students, faculty, and staff may not be aware of how ableism affects their disabled peers or underpins their professional education. It is important to cultivate opportunities within professional education and clinical training to explicitly address our collective role in creating inclusive and accessible academic and healthcare experiences for our diverse community post COVID-19. Drawing on a CDS framework, the research team devised the mnemonic TRAC, which includes Training, Recognition and Representation, Attendance and Action, and Calling to account as strategic guidelines for operationalizing such opportunities.

One Hundred Tones, One Decision: Exploring Race, Skin Tone, and Motivations for becoming a Criminal Justice Practitioner

Overall, scholarship finds individuals have similar motivations to work in the criminal justice system. However, several studies acknowledge race and gender can influence motivations to work as justice professionals. Absent from the motivation and criminal justice profession literature is the potential role that skin tone plays. This gap is surprising as research firmly establishes people with darker skin complexions are more likely to negatively experience the criminal justice system. And thereby may find working as a criminal justice practitioner less desirable. Taken together, this raises the question, how does skin tone impact motivations to work in the justice system? To address this question, I rely on Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory as well as research on motivations to work in criminal justice system and colorism to consider the role skin tone plays in shaping motivations to become justice professionals. I draw from 100 semi-structured interviews with diverse undergraduate and graduate students from universities across the United States. Findings reveal differences in motivations by skin tone: dark-skinned respondents do not report motivations driven by rewards and consequences. Lighter-skinned respondents are more likely to report aspirations to work in the justice system such as interest, self-fulfillment, and/or enjoyment. The study concludes by discussing policy implications and directions for future research.

Factors That Affect the Success of Ethnically Diverse Nursing Students: An Integrative Review of the Literature.

The purpose of this research was to review nursing student retention literature to better understand how to help ethnically diverse undergraduate nursing students succeed. Nursing student retention continues to be a major challenge. Additional research is needed to improve the retention of students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. An integrative literature review was conducted. Qualitative analysis of 10 studies was used to identify emergent themes. Analyses of the studies reveal the magnitude, complexity, and distinctiveness of the challenges ethnically diverse nursing students face. The findings have implications for developing strategies for helping this important at-risk population of students complete their nursing degrees.

Usefulness of Digital Serious Games in Engineering for Diverse Undergraduate Students

The use of educational digital games as supplemental tools to course instruction materials has increased over the last several decades and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Though these types of instructional games have been employed in the majority of STEM disciplines, less is known about how diverse populations of students interpret and define the value of these games towards achieving academic and professional pursuits. A mixed-method sequential exploratory research design method that was framed on the Technology Acceptance Model, Game-Based Learning Theory and Expectancy Value Theory was used to examine how 201 students perceived the usefulness of an intuitive education game that was designed to teach engineering mechanics used in designing civil structures. We found that students had different expectations of educational digital games than games designed for entertainment used outside of classroom environments. Several students thought that the ability to design their own structures and observe structure failure in real-time was a valuable asset in understanding how truss structures responded to physical loading conditions. However, few students thought the educational game would be useful for exam (14/26) or job interview (19/26) preparation. Students associated more value with engineering games that illustrate course content and mathematical calculations used in STEM courses than those that do not include these elements.

The role of positive self-compassion, distress tolerance, and social problem-solving in the relationship between perfectionism and disordered eating among racially and ethnically diverse college students

Eating disorders (EDs) are associated with high levels of distress, functional impairment, and morbidity. Perfectionism has been consistently identified as an important factor in the etiology and maintenance of disordered eating, and as a promising target for treatment efforts. To address the detrimental effects of perfectionism on disordered eating, further research is needed to better understand what mechanisms may influence the relationship between these variables. In the present research, we examined three constructs related to self-regulation as potential mediators of the relationship between perfectionism and disordered eating: positive self-compassion, distress tolerance, and social problem-solving. We collected data from a sample of racially and ethnically diverse undergraduate students (N = 280) using an online questionnaire battery. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we developed measurement and structural models to meet criteria for good fit and tested the hypothesized relationships. Distress tolerance emerged as a robust, statistically significant mediator of the relationship between perfectionism and disordered eating. Social problem-solving and self-compassion did not mediate this relationship. Distress tolerance may counterbalance the cognitive load associated with perfectionism; freeing up mental resources to focus on resisting urges for immediate relief through engagement in maladaptive disordered eating.

Scaling up research on discrimination and health: The abridged Explicit Discrimination Scale

Using data from two studies conducted among diverse undergraduate students, we assessed the scalar structure of the Explicit Discrimination Scale (EDS), and developed an abridged version of the instrument. Our findings suggest that the EDS has acceptable scalability properties, including an adequate dispersion of items along the latent trait continuum. Results also support the idea that increasing raw scale scores reflect higher intensities of perceived discrimination. This shortened version of the EDS may be used in large-scale studies on the health impacts of discrimination.

Supporting Biomedical Research Training for Historically Underrepresented Undergraduates Using Interprofessional, Nonformal Education Structures

Research experience provides critical training for new biomedical research scientists. Students from underrepresented populations studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are increasingly recruited into research pathways to diversify STEM fields. However, support structures outside of research settings designed to help these students navigate biomedical research pathways are not always available; nor are program support components outside the context of laboratory technical skills training and formal mentorship well understood. This study leveraged a multi-institutional research training program, Enhancing Cross-Disciplinary Infrastructure and Training at Oregon (EXITO), to explore how nine institutions designed a new curricular structure (Enrichment) to meet a common goal of enhancing undergraduate research training and student success. EXITO undergraduates participated in a comprehensive, 3-year research training program with the Enrichment component offered across nine sites: three universities and six community colleges, highly diverse in size, demographics, and location. Sites’ approaches to supporting students in the training program were studied over a 30-month period. All sites independently created their own nonformal curricular structures, implemented interprofessionally via facilitated peer groups. Site data describing design and implementation were thematically coded to identify essential programmatic components across sites, with student feedback used to triangulate findings. Enrichment offered students time to critically reflect on their interests, experiences, and identities in research; network with peers and professionals; and support negotiation of hidden and implicit curricula. Students reported the low-pressure setting and student-centered curriculum balanced the high demands associated with academics and research. Core curricular themes described Enrichment as fostering a sense of community among students, exposing students to career paths and skills, and supporting development of students’ professional identities. The non-formal, interprofessional curricula enabled students to model diverse biomedical identities and pathways for each other while informing institutional structures to improve diverse undergraduate students’ success in academia and research.

The Impact of the Early Caregiving Environment on Self-Compassion: the Mediating Effects of Emotion Regulation and Shame

The purpose of the present study was to assess the mediating effects of emotion regulation and perception of self (i.e., shame) on the relationship between early attachment-based caregiving and self-compassion in early adulthood. Participants were 233 ethnically diverse undergraduate students (61% females, 39% males) between 18 and 28 years old (M = 22.7 years) from a midsized southwestern university in the USA. Participants completed a questionnaire comprised of scales assessing early attachment-based caregiving, emotion regulation, shame, and self-compassion. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using EQS (version 6.1) was used to analyze the data. Results showed an indirect association of early attachment-based caregiving with self-compassion through emotion regulation and perception of self (as measured by “shame”); a direct, moderate association of early attachment-based caregiving with emotion regulation and shame; a direct, moderate association of shame with self-compassion; and a direct, large association of emotion regulation with self-compassion. The results of this study suggest that the quality of the early caregiving environment is related to young adults’ emotion regulation and shame proneness, which in turn are linked to their subsequent capacity for self-compassion. These findings are consistent with other studies suggesting the important role of early attachment-based caregiving for the development of emotion regulation, positive self, empathy, and psychological well-being.

Teaching Note—Exploring Podcast-Facilitated Course Work on Racism

ABSTRACT Social work educators teach cultural competency and guide students to understand and address racism. Using mixed methods, we explored the influence of a one-semester course on racial attitudes, skills, and knowledge among 10 diverse undergraduate students. The Seeing White podcast delivered content about historic and systemic race-based oppression and discrimination in American society. Students participated in seminars, maintained reflective journals, and wrote a self-analysis paper to integrate learning. Findings indicate increased knowledge and understanding of key concepts and a commitment to respond to institutional racism. Implications for social work education suggest the need for humility and a willingness for educators and institutions to share power. Ideas for course work on racism are provided.

Autoethnographic Dance and Transformative Learning: Exploring Self-Reflexive Identity Work and Change

This retrospective case study investigated how learners in a transformative autoethnographic dance course engaged in and navigated self-reflexive identity work and corresponding learning outcomes. Data were drawn from 15 diverse undergraduate students enrolled in a course for credit at an urban community college. Findings indicated that learners used choreographic motifs to evoke emotional aspects of a biographic experience and to manage their emotional vulnerability. Learners differed in their self-disclosure, types of reflection, and degree of resolution in their dance narratives. Transformation of identity was found for one third of the class with evidence of change both from exploration of preconscious emotions and epistemic change in perspective.

Mindful awareness moderates the association between psychological inflexibility and distress variables: A cross-sectional investigation

Objective Informed by the contextual behavioral science (CBS) model of behavioral health, the present cross-sectional study examined whether mindful awareness moderated the associations between psychological inflexibility and four distress variables. Participants Cross-sectional data were collected from 402 ethnically diverse undergraduate college students from September 2015 to October 2015. Methods Participants competed an online self-report survey. Results Mindful awareness moderated the associations between psychological inflexibility and distress variables, with stronger associations for somatization and anxiety, and weaker associations for general distress and depression. Specifically, the strength of the positive associations between psychological inflexibility and these distress variables were substantially greater among those low in mindful awareness. Conclusion These findings suggest that a greater degree of mindful awareness may buffer the effects of psychological inflexibility on distress variables, particularly somatization and anxiety. Theoretical and applied implications as well as limitations of the study are discussed.