SII4SCI: a single item measure of science career identity and its application in evaluating ChemDiverse

Persistent underrepresentation in STEM highlights the need for inclusive educational interventions. Evaluating outreach programmes targeting these populations requires reliable and practical instruments, particularly in time-constrained classroom settings. Here, we report the development and validation of the Single-Item Instrument for Science Career Identity (SII4SCI). SII4SCI was assessed for reliability and validity in a cohort of 407 Scottish secondary school students, showing strong correlation with established multi-item instruments, the Career Interest Questionnaire (CIQ) and the Self-Efficacy for Science (SES) scale, as well as alignment with students’ free-text responses. We then applied SII4SCI to evaluate ChemDiverse, a classroom-based outreach programme presenting diverse chemistry role models to high school students. While overall SII4SCI scores did not increase post-intervention, qualitative analysis indicated that students reflected on career pathways, reconsidered aspirations, and engaged with what being a scientist entails. These findings highlight the value of concise measures for evaluating outreach, particularly to measure the effectiveness of activities targeted towards under-represented groups, and suggest that programmes can support informed engagement with science careers decisions even without measurable increases in science career identity.