Greater faculty mentor brilliance beliefs predict lower science identity in first-generation college student researchers.

ABSTRACT: Students who are the first in their family to go to college represent an essential pool of STEM talent, yet they are often underrepresented in STEM fields. In this study, we examined how faculty research mentors' beliefs about whether brilliance is required for success (brilliance beliefs) shape students' beliefs about who is allowed to be successful in STEM and, in turn, the extent to which they see science as an important part of who they are. Data from 3 universities involving 117 faculty mentors and 670 student researchers demonstrated that first-generation college students working with faculty mentors who held lesser brilliance beliefs expressed broader views about who can be successful in STEM and subsequently identified more as scientists three months later. Further, the more studen

SUBMITTER: Hernandez IA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11926343 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature