Encourage all your students to think a career in science is worthwhile

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Understanding the challenges faced by students with concealable or hidden characteristics can help you improve engagement with research opportunities by all students

The underengagement and underachievement of groups who are different in some way from the majority of learners is a known factor in deterring these students from pursuing science in their later academic years. This affects science educators in both school and university.

Encouraging students to see that a career in science is worthwhile, rather than just using science qualifications to enter a profession, is a challenge for teachers. Attracting students who have a characteristic that may not appear to fit in with the cultural norms of science, and are prone to stigma, is especially difficult.

The underengagement and underachievement of groups who are different in some way from the majority of learners is a known factor in deterring these students from pursuing science in their later academic years. This affects science educators in both school and university.

Encouraging students to see that a career in science is worthwhile, rather than just using science qualifications to enter a profession, is a challenge for teachers. Attracting students who have a characteristic that may not appear to fit in with the cultural norms of science, and are prone to stigma, is especially difficult.

A recent study in the US looked at the experiences of undergraduate students with concealable or hidden characteristics. The researchers interviewed six students, two with hidden disabilities and four who declared being LGBT+.

The researchers interviewed the students about taking part in a chemistry research project, a required part of their degree. The fact that their diversity characteristics were hidden was an important consideration because it was for the individuals to share, or not share, that aspect of their identity.

Using the science capital approach

The researchers analysed the interviews using the science capital approach. They applied this specifically to the undergraduate research experience. Science capital considers four aspects of somebody’s buy-in to science, namely:

  • how they think about science
  • which scientists they know
  • what they know about science
  • what they do with science.

The researchers analysed the interviews using the science capital approach. They applied this specifically to the undergraduate research experience. Science capital considers four aspects of somebody’s buy-in to science, namely: how they think about science; which scientists they know; what they know about science; and what they do with science.

The researchers identified a fifth aspect of undergraduate research science capital: the person’s aspirations. They created a set of themes that represented the content of the interviews under each of the five science capital headings.

All the interviewees showed similar levels of science capital but the way they experienced it differed according to their characteristics. For example, under the heading of how they think about science, neither of the two students with hidden disabilities talked about having a general interest in science. Two out of the four LGBT+ students talked about how doing research made them feel.

A supportive and non-judgmental attitude from staff promoted engagement with research

Students with concealed diversity characteristics talked more about the importance of the formal curriculum and opportunities offered by the university in developing their science capital than those without a disclosed characteristic.

The students felt it was important to have representation and mentoring from people like them. The authors noted this may be difficult to manage with respect to characteristics that staff and students may choose not to reveal. Despite this, a supportive and non-judgmental attitude from staff promoted engagement with research, irrespective of whether the staff shared a characteristic with the student.

Teaching tips

  • Improve all your students’ involvement in science by giving them opportunities to take part in real research where they take on the role of the expert. This could be through participating in citizen science projects or facilitating open-ended research in the classroom.
  • Make it clear that extra opportunities in science are for all students, not just those who are seen as the scientists of the future.
  • Foster respectful and supportive relationships. This will enable diverse students to thrive, regardless of whether they make their concealable characteristics known.

Teaching tips

  • Improve all your students’ involvement in science by giving them opportunities to take part in real research where they take on the role of the expert. This could be through participating in citizen science projects, such as the global experiment (rsc.li/3XXoq0j), or facilitating open-ended research in the classroom.
  • Make it clear that extra opportunities in science are for all students, not just those who are seen as the scientists of the future.
  • Foster respectful and supportive relationships. This will enable diverse students to thrive, regardless of whether they make their concealable characteristics known.

Jane Essex

Reference

E A Boyd and K B Lazar, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2024, doi.org/10.1039/D4RP00094C