Toward a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community

• Autores: Mica Estrada, Anna Woodcock, Paul R. Hernandez, P. Wesley Schultz
• Localización: Journal of educational psychology, ISSN-e 1939-2176, ISSN 0022-0663, Vol. 103, Nº. 1, 2011, págs. 206-222
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, indicating that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than nonminority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same rate as nonminority students. Kelman (1958, 2006) described a tripartite integration model of social influence by which a person orients to a social system. To test whether this model predicts integration into the scientific community, we conducted analyses of data from a national panel of minority science students. A structural equation model framework showed that self-efficacy (operationalized to be consistent with Kelman's rule orientation) predicted student intentions to pursue a scientific career. However, when identification as a scientist and internalization of values were added to the model, self-efficacy became a poorer predictor of intention. Additional mediation analyses supported the conclusion that while having scientific self-efficacy is important, identifying with and endorsing the values of the social system reflect a deeper integration and more durable motivation to persist as a scientist