THE IMPACT OF MULTIPLE AUTHENTIC WORK EXPERIENCES: PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS

To meet the projected shortfall of trained geoscientists, it is crucial to recruit and educate a more diverse community of geoscientists and to ensure their transition into the workforce. In this presentation we report preliminary findings about the influence of multiple authentic work experiences on the motivation for, interest in, and knowledge of career options of undergraduate geology majors. Between 2017 and 2019, we engaged 38 students in the Geoscience Pathway program at the Hispanic-Serving University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Core program elements consisted of semester-long authentic work experiences in one or more career tracks, mentoring by geoscience professors and industry partners, professional development activities covering technical and soft skills, and social events. Adapting a medical school clinical rotation model, three cohorts of juniors were recruited and first placed in internships in research laboratories at UTSA. A subset of these participants subsequently engaged in two additional internships at local geoscience organizations related to energy resources, environmental geology, and water resources. Using multiple surveys to evaluate the program’s impact on participants revealed that, after one semester of program participation, 71% of the students were extremely motivated to pursue a geoscience career, up by 49% prior to the experience. Nearly 70% of the participants ascribed their increased interest in pursuing a geoscience career to their specific experiences in the program. Participating students also reported gains in knowledge of career options over the multiple semesters of participation, with the proportion of students perceiving themselves as extremely knowledgeable about specific geoscience career options increasing from 21% to 56%. Authentic work experiences in specific career tracks increased interest in those career options for 87% of the participants. While confirming existing knowledge about the benefits of experiential learning experiences, these results also underscore the importance of exposing students to career options in meaningful ways that involve active learning in specific career domains. This career-focused knowledge will promote improved transition of bachelor’s degree holders into the geoscience workforce.