Exploring Variance in Undergraduate Research Participation: A Quantitative and Qualitative Investigation among Students with Differing Levels of Involvement

Abstract This exploratory research study is motivated by a broader interest and need to understand the impact of undergraduate research on the student experience. Undergraduate research is recognized as a high-impact educational practice but our understanding of who participates and how they benefit is limited. In this study we considered data from a professional development survey (PDS) intended to support students in basic forms of self-assessment and reflection on co- curricular activities, including undergraduate research. We considered data from a large R1 institution in the northeast for a cohort of students who were first-year students in 2015-16 through their (nominal) time as seniors in 2018-19. We were particularly interested in understanding what, if any, differences there were among three student groups, those who never participated in research (G1, N = 700), those who participated during their first-year but did not continue (G2, N = 31), and those who participated in their-first year and continued in subsequent years (G3, N = 20). We considered three fundamental questions: 1) What differences, if any, are there among these three groups on traditional academic measures (high school GPA, SAT scores, undergraduate GPA)? 2) What differences, if any, are there among students in G2 and G3 as reflected in their PDS responses? To answer the first research question, statistical analysis was conducted on deidentified data obtained from the institution; one way ANOVA was used to compare groups on their high school GPA, SAT scores, and term GPAs. To answer the second research question, we performed a thematic analysis of PDS data, inclusive of two open response items. We found that there is a statistically significant difference on academic measures among students who never participated (G1) and those who did (G2 and G3). There was no statistically significant difference between students who left research (G2) and those who continued (G3). We noted qualitative differences in the open responses of students in who left research (G2) and those who continued (G3). Themes for students who left research after one year included collaboration within the experience and narrow descriptions of roles, responsibilities, and research impact. The themes for those who continued included deeper descriptions of roles and responsibilities inclusive of technical skills and equipment, and deeper descriptions of individual learning compared with those students who left. This exploratory study has implications related to how we might think about recruiting, onboarding, and supporting students in undergraduate research, especially early in their academic journey. Selecting students based on more than traditional academic measures is an important an area that needs greater investigation. Additionally, once students are engaged in undergraduate research, developing support structures to help them in understanding the nature of their involvement, value of their contributions, and educative value of the experience, regardless of their decision to continue with research or not, is needed. Development and integration of evidence-based supports will require significant investigation given the varied curricular and co-curricular spaces in which undergraduate research occurs.