Benefits of Undergraduate Research ExperiencesUndergraduate students'participation in hands-on research is widely believed to encourage students to pursue advanced degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. SRI International conducted a nationwide evaluation of undergraduate research opportunities (UROs) to understand who participates, what effects the experience has on them, and what factors favor positive outcomes. Our study included four Web-based surveys, conducted between 2003 and 2005 and involving almost 15,000 respondents. The survey instruments, detailed data tables, and analytical reports are available online (1).
Respondents to the first survey were approximately 4500 undergraduates and 3600 faculty, graduate student, and postdoc mentors who participated during 2002 or 2003 in UROs funded by any of eight NSF programs with a substantial undergraduate research component. Two years later, about 3300 individuals who were undergraduates in the initial survey responded to the follow-up survey.
In 2003, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of individuals (ages 22 to 35) who had received a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) (n = 3400); in 2004, we conducted a parallel survey of individuals who had received a bachelor's degree in a social, behavioral, or economic science (SBES) (n = 3200). Of the STEM and SBES survey respondents, some (sponsored researchers) knew their research to be sponsored by NSF, NIH, or NASA. Others (nonsponsored researchers) did research that was not (as far as they knew) sponsored by NSF, NIH, or NASA. A third group (nonresearchers) did not participate in UROs.