CONNECTING RISK, WATER HAZARD INTEREST, AND CAREER MOTIVATIONS WITH PRE-EXISTING DATA AND STUDENT SURVEY RESPONSES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

A deeper understanding of what can influence students’ interest in geoscience has implications on how students can be more effectively recruited and retained in the major. It can also help departments to see what makes their programs desirable to students and potentially impact recruitment strategies for underrepresented students. Following Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) model of interest development, interest may be triggered by personal experience and sustained if the interest aligns with a student’s personal values. Geoscience related experiences may include encounters with geohazards, and students who have experienced a hazard may value knowing more about the hazard, how it occurs, or how to manage it. Value may also relate to students with community-oriented career goals. While there are many types of geohazards, some of the most common and widespread in the United States are water geohazards: drought, hurricanes, flooding, and water contamination.

This work demonstrates the results of a pilot study (n=25) examining undergraduate student interest in relation to their personal risk and experience with water geohazards. Data sets from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Muller and Gayster (2021) are used to determine values of individual student risk. Independent-samples t-tests indicate significant differences between measured level of interest in a specific geohazard and their career motivations. Students who show more interest in learning about flooding and drought believe that geoscience is more relevant to their future career (p=.007 and .030, respectively). In addition, students with an increased interest in flooding indicate more interest in a career that involves environmental justice (p=.029), and those interested in drought and water contamination are more interested in a career helping their communities (p=<.001 and .006, respectively) than those who had lower interest scores. Future work will expand the sample population to include introductory geoscience students from across the country.