Playing “catch-up”
How targeted summer research experiences strengthen the career pathways of underrepresented students in the humanities and social sciences
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21724948 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carrie E Spearin (0000-0001-7348-3734, Brown University), Taiese Bingham-Hickman (Brown University), Gina F Astorini (0009-0004-4425-1634, Brown University, corresponding author), Jane L Indorf (0000-0002-9288-3220, Brown University), Medeva Ghee (Brown University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Arts and Humanities in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1474-0222 • E-ISSN: 1741-265X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14740222261458070 |
| OpenAlex | W7166185694 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
As institutions of higher education in the United States continue to address the legacies of exclusion that have limited educational opportunities for students of color, leaders across academia, government, and the private sector are called upon to implement meaningful remedies that increase engagement. The Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative (LAMI) is one such program in the U.S. that addresses the underrepresentation of aspiring researchers in the humanities and social sciences. This article examines whether undergraduates with no prior research experience appear to “catch-up” to peers with earlier research exposure through an intensive summer research program. Findings suggest that students without prior research experiences achieve comparable outcomes in research skill development, researcher identity, self-efficacy, and future career planning, positioning both groups as equally competitive graduate school applicants. Long-term data further show similar graduate school matriculation rates, suggesting that structured, equity-oriented research experiences can mitigate disparities in preparation and access
Alliance · Career Pathways · Educational research · Graduate students · Higher education · Matriculation · Semi-structured interview · Career Development and Diversity · Doctoral Education Challenges and Solutions · Higher Education Research Studies
Undergraduate Research Experiences Support Science Career Decisions and Active Learning
Undergraduate research experiences
Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research Partnerships Affect Studen Retention
Contextual supports and barriers to career choice
Toward a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community.
Toward a Unifying Social Cognitive Theory of Career and Academic Interest, Choice, and Performance
The state of research on historically Black colleges and universities
The Leadership Alliance
The Role of Efficacy and Identity in Science Career Commitment Among Underrepresented Minority Students
Importance of Undergraduate Research for Minority Persistence and Achievement in Biology
Cross-Discipline Perceptions of the Undergraduate Research Experience
Learning through Research
Establishing the benefits of research experiences for undergraduates in the sciences
Becoming a scientist
Early undergraduate research experiences lead to similar learning gains for STEM and Non-STEM undergraduates
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |