Abstract Book of the 7th Global Conference on Education and Teaching
Year: 2025
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Comparison of Perceptions and Understanding in Research Ethics between First-Generation and Non-First-Generation College Students
Hyun Jin Kang, Faigy Mandelbaum, Jennifer E. Drake, Stephanie Santiago-Michels, Laura Rabin
ABSTRACT:
Research has shown that first-generation (FG) college students perceive a greater number of obstacles to academic success, but that they can perform as well as peers when provided adequate support. This study investigated FG and non-first-generation (NFG) college students from two- and four-year institutions in the New York Metropolitan area in terms of their perception and understanding of research ethics before and after a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program. We examined data across 9 REU cohorts (n = 87) between 2013-2025 in students who underwent intensive research ethics training. Participants were racially diverse (51.7% non-white), primarily female (75.9%), and approximately half were FG college students (49.4%). At pre-training, there were no significant group differences in level of experience in conducting neuroscience research and confidence in knowledge of research ethics, after controlling for year in school. At post-training, FG and NFG student groups each reported improvements in their understanding of authorship contributions, breach of research integrity, establishing strategies for making ethical decisions, and advising a friend on how to respond to ethical dilemmas. In a subset of students who provided endorsements to three survey statements about their perception of ethics as an adaptive or invariable trait (n = 43), students generally endorsed more openness to perceiving ethics as capable of change post training, with a greater trend in that direction for FG students. Results are discussed in relation to implementing innovative ethics programming for undergraduate students undertaking research experiences as part of their undergraduate training.
Keywords: Ethics Training, First-Generation College Students, Research Ethics, Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) Program, Undergraduate Training