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Engaging Rural Appalachian High School Girls in College Science Laboratories to Foster STEM-Related Career Interest.

ABSTRACT: Setting students on a path to success in careers in science is a challenge in poor rural Appalachian public schools. Students face many socioeconomic obstacles. Their teachers are also limited by many factors including inadequate facilities, under-funding, geographical isolation of the schools, and state-testing constraints. Additionally, students and teachers lack the availability of outside science educational opportunities. In an effort to address this situation, 24 academically strong high school junior girls and their teachers from the Carter County School System in rural east Tennessee were invited for a laboratory day at Milligan College, a small liberal arts college in the heart of the county. Science faculty, female science majors, and admissions staff volunteered in service to the project. The event included three laboratory sessions, lunch in the college cafeteria, and campus tours. This successful example, as evidenced by positive evaluations by the invited girls and their teachers, of educational outreach by a local, small liberal arts college to a rural county school system provides a model for establishing a relationship between higher education institutions and these underprivileged schools, with the intention of drawing more of these poor, rural Appalachian students, particularly girls, into a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career path. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.

SUBMITTER: Kelly KL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4798822 | biostudies-other | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Engaging Rural Appalachian High School Girls in College Science Laboratories to Foster STEM-Related Career Interest.

Kelly Karen L KL

Journal of microbiology & biology education 20160301 1

Setting students on a path to success in careers in science is a challenge in poor rural Appalachian public schools. Students face many socioeconomic obstacles. Their teachers are also limited by many factors including inadequate facilities, under-funding, geographical isolation of the schools, and state-testing constraints. Additionally, students and teachers lack the availability of outside science educational opportunities. In an effort to address this situation, 24 academically strong high s ...[more]

PMID: 27047596

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Project description:Increasing biomedical workforce diversity remains a persistent challenge. Recent reports have shown that biomedical sciences (BMS) graduate students become less interested in faculty careers as training progresses; however, it is unclear whether or how the career preferences of women and underrepresented minority (URM) scientists change in manners distinct from their better-represented peers. We report results from a survey of 1500 recent American BMS Ph.D. graduates (including 276 URMs) that examined career preferences over the course of their graduate training experiences. On average, scientists from all social backgrounds showed significantly decreased interest in faculty careers at research universities, and significantly increased interest in non-research careers at Ph.D. completion relative to entry. However, group differences emerged in overall levels of interest (at Ph.D. entry and completion), and the magnitude of change in interest in these careers. Multiple logistic regression showed that when controlling for career pathway interest at Ph.D. entry, first-author publication rate, faculty support, research self-efficacy, and graduate training experiences, differences in career pathway interest between social identity groups persisted. All groups were less likely than men from well-represented (WR) racial/ethnic backgrounds to report high interest in faculty careers at research-intensive universities (URM men: OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36-0.98, p = 0.04; WR women: OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.47-0.89, p = 0.008; URM women: OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.30-0.71, p<0.001), and URM women were more likely than all other groups to report high interest in non-research careers (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.28-2.90, p = 0.002). The persistence of disparities in the career interests of Ph.D. recipients suggests that a supply-side (or "pipeline") framing of biomedical workforce diversity challenges may limit the effectiveness of efforts to attract and retain the best and most diverse workforce. We propose incorporation of an ecological perspective of career development when considering strategies to enhance the biomedical workforce and professoriate through diversity.

Project description:BackgroundThe rapid growth and changes that occur in adolescents increase the demand for macro and micronutrients and addressing their needs particularly in females would be an important step to break the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition. Thus we evaluated the status of anemia and its anthropometric, dietary and socio demographic determinants in female adolescents, west Ethiopia.MethodsA school based cross-sectional study was conducted among school going adolescent girls of Wayu Tuqa district, south west Ethiopia and a 3-stage random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using STATA version12. Haemoglobin was measured by HemoCue 301+ photometer and WHO Anthro-plus software Version 1.0.4 was used to calculate BMI for age z-score. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to check associations and control confounding. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically.ResultThe overall prevalence of anemia was 27% (95% CI: 22.9-31%) of which 23, and 4% had mild and moderate anemia respectively. The proportion of thinness and overweight girls based on the BMI for age z-score was 33 and 3.6%, respectively. The odds of developing anemia were almost four times more likely among late adolescents as compared to early adolescents (AOR?=?3.8 95%CI?=?2.3 to 8.5).Adolescents from rural areas were 3.4 times more likely to have anemia as compared to their urban counterparts (AOR?=?3.4 95%CI?=?1.9 to7) and adolescents those who attained menarche were two times more likely to develop anemia compared to those who did not attained menarche (AOR?=?2.3 95%CI?=?1.34 to 4.2).ConclusionThe prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls was a moderate public health problem. To improve the prevailing nutritional problem, there must be inter-sectorial collaboration among health sectors and education sectors in providing nutritional education and counseling based on age and menarche status.

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Engaging Rural Appalachian High School Girls in College Science Laboratories to Foster STEM-Related Career Interest.

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Engaging Rural Appalachian High School Girls in College Science Laboratories to Foster STEM-Related Career Interest.

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