FACTORS DURING FIELD RESEARCH THAT AFFECT STUDENTS’ DECISIONS TO BECOME OR REMAIN GEOSCIENCE MAJORS

Research experiences, field experiences, and internships have been shown to help retain students to complete their geoscience degree. However, it is less well known how or why they work—what aspects of the research or field experience make a difference in students’ decision to become or remain a geoscience major. We created and led a short two-week, field-based internship for 5 2YC and 4YC introductory-level students to conduct research and create a poster to present their results. The students were diverse in gender, ethnicity, age, first-generation college student status, and number of science courses taken. All students planned to transfer or had transferred. We found that many of the factors described in the literature as influencing students’ affective domain and leading to retention played a role in the field research experience. For example, we found that the research experience increased students’ self-efficacy in the geosciences through various means, such as experiencing their own success and viewing peers’, near-peer mentors’, and the leaders’ successes. In addition, the internship increased their connection with mentors and other individuals who could serve as resources, especially after transfer to a 4YC, gave them a sense of belong to the geoscience culture, increased their knowledge of geoscience career paths and expectations, helped them make connections with Earth, and maintained their interest. Therefore, we propose that field research experiences are successful at helping students make the decision to become or remain geosciences majors, often requiring transfer, because the experiences affect so many affective and cognitive components at once. Many of these components are not possible without close and sustained interactions with other people, indicating that the social aspect of field work plays a fundamental role in their success