Biomedical Research Career Identification in Graduate Education - BRIDGE - is a four-year intervention study based on social cognitive theory predicting persistence in challenging academic environments. Interventions designed to encourage doctoral students - especially underrepresented minority students (URM) - to pursue their career aspirations in the research sciences will be developed, implemented and tested at UCSF. We hope to obtain information that will lead to evidence-based programs that effectively support greater diversity in the student body and in the science research career workforce.

Goals

1.  To determine the role of social cognitive career theory constructs (i.e., self-efficacy, role identification and outcome expectations) in predicting motivation and persistence (outcome measures) in research careers among graduate students in the research sciences.

2. To develop and evaluate the effect of a multi-level intervention targeting self-efficacy, role identification, and outcome expectations on outcome measures (motivation and persistence) in a prospective cohort of biomedical and behavioral graduate students compared to static control cohorts that will be a delayed intervention group.

Funding Source: National Institute of General Medical Sciences