The Role of Undergraduate Research Experiences in Explaining Graduate School Enrollment

Using inverse propensity of treatment weighting, this quasi-experimental study uses Education Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002) data to examine factors associated with undergraduate research participation and graduate enrollment and how sources of influence may differ by sex. The findings demonstrate that early educational aspirations predict undergraduate research experience and, in turn, predict level of graduate school enrollment, controlling for a host of precollege and college factors. Grounded in human capital, social mobility, and socialization theories, the results point to undergraduate experiences with faculty as a likely key to cultivating graduate school aspirations. Furthermore, the relationship between undergraduate research and graduate enrollment appears to be conditional on sex, suggesting that social climate serves as a barrier to graduate education. As undergraduate research programs and interest in such programs proliferate, the study’s findings should encourage institutional leaders and practitioners to work to identify pathways to undergraduate research opportunities and employ a mentorship model to develop individualized plans for undergraduates who may pursue graduate degrees. For policymakers and funding agencies, the findings support continued financial incentives to provide these opportunities. Broadly, these results provide evidence to combat persistent gender inequity in fields that are still male-dominated.