Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology

Disparities remain in the representation of marginalized students in STEM.
Classroom-based experiential learning opportunities can increase student
confidence and academic success; however, the effectiveness of extending
learning to outdoor settings is unknown. Our objectives were to examine 1)
demographic gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) major
completion, college graduation, and GPAs for students who did and did not
enroll in field courses, 2) whether under-represented demographic groups
were less likely to enroll in field courses, and 3) whether
under-represented demographic groups were more likely to feel increased
competency in science-related tasks (hereafter, self-efficacy) after
participating in field courses. We compared the relationships among
academic success measures and demographic data (race/ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, first-generation, and gender) for UC Santa Cruz
undergraduate students admitted between 2008 and 2019 who participated in
field courses (N=941 students) and who did not (N=28,215 students).
Additionally, we administered longitudinal surveys to evaluate
self-efficacy gains during field-based versus classroom-based courses
(N=570 students). We found no differences in the proportion of students
matriculating at the university as undecided, proposed EEB, or proposed
other majors across demographic groups. However, five years later,
under-represented students were significantly less likely to graduate with
EEB degrees, indicating retention rather than recruitment drives
disparities in representation. This retention gap is partly due to a lower
rate of college completion and partly through attrition to other majors.
Although under-represented students were less likely to enroll in field
courses, field courses were associated with higher self-efficacy gains,
higher college graduation rates, higher EEB major retention, and higher
GPAs at graduation. All demographic groups experienced significant
increases in self-efficacy during field-based but not lecture-based
courses. Together, our findings suggest that increasing the number of
field courses and actively facilitating access to students from
under-represented groups can be a powerful tool for increasing STEM
diversity.