“LETTING THEM IN ON THE SECRET”: A MIXED METHODS ANALYSIS OF FEMALE STUDENT EXPERIENCES ON AN INTERNATIONAL FIELD EXPERIENCE

Field experiences are an important component of a geoscience curriculum and a common method of recruitment for students to the discipline, particularly for students that may not have had significant exposure to geoscience in K-12. However, many geoscience field experiences are limited to those who are already geoscience majors. An international field course which incorporates geoscience research was designed to cater to both geoscience majors and non-geoscience majors and aims to provide opportunities for these students to explore their geoscience interests and potential career paths. Semi-structured interview responses, supported by pre- and post-trip surveys, were analyzed from four female students that participated in this course using a triangulated mixed methods approach. Analysis of interview responses revealed the students’ influences for enrolling in the course, their experiences on the trip, and their plans of geoscience persistence following the trip.

Students were found to have had inherent, pre-college, and college influences that led them to participate in the experience, and all students indicated a plan to continue in the geosciences to some degree. All students reported increases in confidence in their geoscience abilities as a result of the experience. Students also reflected on their geoscience literacy gains, including the non-geoscience major, who specifically compared their geoscience knowledge to knowing a secret about the world that her non-geoscience peers did not understand. She also reported finding enjoyment in observing natural landscapes and understanding the processes by which they formed once she returned home. Researchers followed up with students two years after the experience to determine their geoscience persistence. The three geoscience students have graduated and remained in the discipline, while the non-geoscience major continued on to take an additional geoscience course. All participants in the study are female, providing an opportunity to examine such an experience through the lens of the female perspective. These results suggest further exploration of international field experiences for both majors and non-majors is necessary to better understand their potential for recruitment and retention along geoscience pathways.