EUGENE GARF/ELD INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC lNFORMATION@ 3501 MARKET ST., PHILADELPHIA. PA 19104

Research and Dedicated Mentors Nourish Wlence Careers at Undergraduate Institutions

Number 33 August 17, 1987 Recent studies of undergraduate education stitutions. While the emphasis here is on the in the US—such as those undertaken by the US, foreign readers should also benefit from Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement the message that large research universities of Teaching, 1 by a Faculty Task Force of cannot claim a monopoly on excellent scien- the University of Califomia,z and by the tific instruction or research. National Institute of Education3-describe a similar set of problems besetting the na- Undergraduate Science Education tion’s undergraduate colleges and univer- in the US sities. They report, for example, an erosion in the preparedness of entering freshmen, In March 1986 the National Science Board a marked trend by students toward special- (NSB), the policy-making arm of the Na- ized courses that offer a vocational payoff tional Science Foundation (NSF), published and away from courses contributing to a lib- Uno!ergraduate Science, Mathematics and eral education, and widespread low-quality Engineering Education, a study of the instruction by too often uninterested facsd- serious problems-’ ‘especially problems of ty. The Carnegie report found that many quality’ ‘—in the US undergraduate science undergraduate institutions seem to be more enterprise. The report warned that these successful in mereiy credentialing students problems create a “grave long-term threat than in offering them a quality education. to the Nation’s scientific and technical It characterized undergarduate education in capacity, its industrial and economic com- the US as ‘‘troubled,”l (p. 2) while the petitiveness, and the strength of its national University of California study called its un- defense.”4 (p. 1) dergraduate program “something of a ne- The chief areas of concern were three: glected child. “z All paint a picture of de- poor laboratory instruction, often using an- cline, if not crisis. tiquated equipment unimaginative curricula In this essay I will focus on undergraduate and classroom instruction; and faculty who science education in the US, on what recent are not up-to-date on rwent advances. These reports reveal about its quality and future, deficiencies, the report noted, have contrib- and on some undergraduate institutions that uted to fewer students electing careers in sci- are highly successful in producing science ence, to some specialties not attracting graduates. I will dkcuss the role of research enough students of high quality, and to a de- in undergraduate education: student partici- creasing supply of qualified science and en- pation in research appears to have a capti- gineering faculty.d (p. 2) vating effect on many students who without The report recommended that the NSF this experience might well decide against a spend $100 million per year on undergrad- career in science. I will rdsodiscuss the con- uate education in scienee, mathematics, and tributions to scientific knowledge made by engineering by 1990 and leverage its con- many faculty at primarily undergraduate in- tribution with state and private sector

229 funds.d (p. 6) Congress recently acted on ranking of the number of graduates who this recommendation by authorizing $70 later earn a PhD. million for undergraduate education in the The top 10 producers, proportionately, of NSF’s 1988 budget in suppoti of instrument- baccalaureates who went onto earn a PhD ation and laboratory instruction, curricuhmt in the mathematical and physical sciences development (particularly in calculus and in are (here and elsewhere listed in descending engineering), faculty enhancement, and stu- rank order) , Califor- dent research participations Thk is more nia Institute of Technology (Caltech), Mas- than double last year’s amount and repre- sachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), sents a giant step toward the goal set by the Cooper Union, Webb Institute of Naval Ar- NSB. chitecture, , Rice University, The renewed effort of the federal gover- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Polytech- nmentis plainly overdue, as an array of sta- nic Institute of New York, and Camegie- tistics on the decline of undergraduate in- Mellon University. The top 10 producers, terest in science indicates. For example, 9.4 proportionately, of baccalaureates who later percent of all students receiving undergrad- earned a PhD in the life sciences are Univer- uate degrees in 1975 chose majors in biol- sity of California at San Diego, Philadelphia ogy, chemistry, physics, or geology, but the College of Pharmacy and Science, Reed, number was ordy 7.5 percent for 1983 bac- Cakech, University of California at Irvine, calaureates.6 Whereas basic science lost Delaware Valley College of Science and ground as far as undergraduate interest is Agriculture, University of Chicago, Swarth- concerned, engineering d business attract- more College, Harvey Mudd, and Wabash ed more and more students. This trend, as College.g Science Indicators: Zhe 1985 Repon ob- Elsewhere these two groups–physical- served, is “consistent with the widespread and life-sciences PhDs (1950 to 1980)— perception that undergraduate education has were analyzed together and the rankings become increasingly vocational.”7 It logi- turned out as follows: Cakech, Harvey cally follows that fewer science baccalau- Mudd, MIT, Red, University of Califor- reates translates into fewer graduate degrees nia at San Diego, University of Chicago, in science being awarded: between 1975 and Swarthrnore, , Carnegie- 1985 the awarding of science PhDs declined Mellon, and Wabash. 10 (p. 40) by 11 percent.8 In a recent article, M. Elizabeth Tidbrdl, professor of physiology, George Washing- Baccalaureate origins of Science PhDs ton University Medical Center, Washington, DC, reported her study of the baccalaureate Amid aggregate decline, however, there origins of recipients of doctoral degrees in are certain schools that have produced a the natural sciences—physical sciences and disproportionate share of science PhDs and engineering (PS/E) and life sciences (LS)— certain primarily undergraduate institutions 1970-1979.11 Tidball divided the data in that have sent a disproportionate share of various ways but focused on the bac- their baccalaureates on to study science in calaureate origins of women PhD graduates graduate school. Carol H. Fuller, research in science. Tidball found that among the associate, Great Lakes Colleges Association, greatest producers on a per capita basis of Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently undertook PS/E and LS women PhD graduates were a comprehensive study of the undergraduate a number of women’s colleges, including origins of PhD recipients in the US during Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the period 1951-1980.9 Her ranking of bac- Wellesley colleges. calaureate schools is adjusted for the differ- What is remarkable about these and other ing student populations at each institution such lists and what is perhaps surprising to and provides a weighted, or propofiionate, many is the place that select liberal arts

230 colleges hold in the rankings. Harvey Table 1: The 50 primarily undergraduate institutions Mudd, Reed, Swarthmore, Haverford, Wa- participating in “’TIE Future of Wlence at L&ml Arrs Colleges,” a conference convened at , bash, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Ohio, on June 9-10, 1986. Wellesley, and many other colieges are pri- marily undergraduate institutions, which Alblon College lack the scientific hardware and tinanciaI resources, both public and private, of large Macrdester College Antioch University research universities. Yet these select liberal arts colleges and others (for example, Mmmt Holyoke College Oberlin, Carleton, and Pomona colleges) Oberlin College Rowdoin College send more than their share of baccalaureates Ohio Wesleyan on to graduate study in science. University Reed College Role of the Liberal Arts Colleges St. Olaf College Denisen University A group of 50 liberal arts colleges (listed Trinity College, in Table 1) was intensively studied in 1986 Connecticut and was found to contribute significantly to Franklin and Marshall , College New York the training of US scientists. Approximate- ly 30 percent of the 1985 freshman class at these “science-active” colleges, as they are Hampton University known, expressed the intent to major in sci- Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Wheaton College, ence. This is double the proportion at highly College of the Holy Illinois selective public and private universities and cross six times the national average. The actual Williams COOege Kalarrrazeo College production of baccalaureates in science by these colleges matches closely the students’ intent: in 1983 these 50 colleges graduated held in June 1986; it adds qualitative data about a quarter of each class with science to the earlier study. degrees. 10 These two Oberlin reports have demon- Of added interest is the number of women strated that many outstanding liberal arts col- rnzjoring in science at these select liberal ms leges “rank at or near the top of all Ameri- colleges: they constitute about 45 percent of can institutes of higher education-including the freshman science majors at the science- public and private multiversities and private active colleges. This is twice the proportion research universities—in turning out scien- at the select research universities. tists. “12 (p. 1) This productivity is at- These findings are reported in Maintain- tributed to high-quality, one-on-one teach- ing America’s Scientific Productivity: The ing, which frequently includes undergrad- Necessip of the Liberal Arts Colleges~o uate participation in research. There would (March 1987), which is the latest report of seem to be some magic in this method, for Sam C. Carrier and David Davis-Van Atta, while the total number of science baccalau- Oberlin College, Ohio. The report updates reates declined by 17 percent since the another published in 1985, Educating mid- 1970s, the number of science baccalau- America’s Scientists: ‘ZJteRole of the Re- reates produced by these science-active search Colleges. J~ which was prepared for liberal arts colleges remained essentially un- the first national conference on the Future changed and actually increased on a per of Science at Liberai Arts Colleges, con- capita basis. In 1975 US liberal arts colleges vened at Oberlin in June of that year. Main- contributed to the education of 42 per 1,000 taining Amen”ca’sSct”entijicProductivity was US scientists, while in 1983 the number was prepared for the second national conference, 58.3 per 1,000.s

231 Regarding qualitative measures of scien- Technology. 10 (p. 40-1) Thus, both quan- tists who graduated from liberal arts col- titatively and qualitatively, these liberal arts leges, the 1987 Oberlin report lists the colleges are implant prcducers of scien- following institutions as those whose bac- tists in the US. calaureate graduates in science have gained Selectivity is clearly one important ele- membership in the NAS at the greatest rate: ment in the success of the elite liberal arts Caltech, Harvard University, University of colleges in producing scientists. I suspect Chicago, Swarthmore, MIT, Reed, Wes- that even more important, however, is the leyan CoUege, Carleton, Hamilton College, greater likelihood that a close student- Amherst CoUege, Princeton University, Co- teacher relationship will develop in the set- lumbia University, Cornell University, ting of a small class than in a large lecture Haverford, Yale University, Pomona, Car- hall, such as is typically encountered at large negie-MeUon, University of California at universities. Moreover, close relationships Berkeley, and Oberlin. This list was com- among students, which seem more likely to piled by Rush D. HoIt, Department of Phys- develop in a small setting, also foster the ics, Swarthmore College, Pemsylvania. ‘o research spirit. (p. 40-1) Holt also examined citation data-specif- ically the list of 1,000 contemporary scien- tists most-cited between 1%5 and 1978 that Undergmdnrtte Participation in Research I published in 1981Is—to determine which undergraduate institutions accounted for the The Oberlin studies, as weUas many other greatest number of highly cited scientists. sources, have pointed with favor to under- The rankings this time were Swarthmore, graduate participation in research as a University of Chicago, Harvard, Cakech, powertltl way of attracting students to sci- Columbia, Wesleyan, Haverford, Kenyon ence and giving them a high-quality educa- College, Yale, Carleton, MIT, Princeton, tion that prepares them well for graduate Union College, Oberlin, Cornell, Reed, study. The extent to which these 50 schools Amherst, , and Hamil- practice what they preach is impressive; for ton.10 (p. 40-1) example, of 7,000 articles published by The 1987 Oberlin report also analyzes the faculty of the Oberlin group of liberal arts baccalaureate origins of NSF graduate-study coUeges, 30 percent included an undergrad- grantees, 1976-1983. The per capita rank- uate student as coauthor. 10(p. 43) At re- ings in this analysis were Caltech, Swarth- search universities the number is less than more, Harvey Mudd, MIT, Princeton, Har- 1 percent. vard, Reed, University of Chicago, Yale, The gospel of undergraduate participation Pomona, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Carleton, in research has now reached beyond the elite Stanford University, Oberlin, Macalester undergraduate colleges. A cover story in a College, Errrlham College, Brown Univer- recent issue of the C%-om’cleof Higher Edu- sity, and Whitman College. 10 (p. 40) cation reports a sharp incr~ in the number Thus, using NAS membership, citation of undergraduates collaborating with their data, and receipt of NSF graduate-study professors on research projects. 14 At the grants as rough measures of excellence or University of Delaware, Newark, two-thirds quality, it is plain that many liberal arts col- of the engineering students who participated leges stand alongside premier research in research as undergraduates went on to universities in preparing the nation’s best pursue doctoral degrees in the last two years, scientists. This determination is corroborat- the article reports. This compares with a 10 ed by other measures as well: number of percent nationwide average for engineering baccalaureates who become members of students. The University of Mimesota has American Men and Women of Science or are also been emphasizing undergraduate re- listed in Who’s Whoin Frontier Science and search recently, And a few programs are

232 long-standing, such as MIT’s Undergradu- more, students are required to achieve a ate Research Opportunities Program, begun passing grade on a general examination. 19 in 1%9. The program has been quite successful, Participation in research or’ ‘active learn- Eaborn stated, and has produced “capable ing” attracts a student’s interest and has a graduates with substantial problem-solving catalytic effect in enhancing both motivation experience,.. enthusiasm, self-reliance, and and skills. Students who as undergraduates creativity, along with the maturity that participate in research are more likely to comes from a close working relationship pursue graduate studies. With the pool of with postgraduate and postdoctoral stu- students expected to shrink substantially in dents. ” He suggestrxi that’ ‘one of the more the 1990s, 15 the importance of attracting enterprising American universities [might] highly motivated and skilled science contemplate setting up this type of program graduate students will be even more impor- for the last two years of a four-year degree tant than it is now. course. ” 19 As part of its increased funding for science education, Congress allocated $9 million in the NSF budget for fiscal year 1987 for a Council on Undergraduate Research new and special effort to involve an addi- tional 2,(M)Oundergraduates in research. 1G Give much of the credit for current US The figure will be $18 million in fiscal year interest in this subject to the efforts of the 1988 for the Research Experience for Un- Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), dergraduates program, as it is known. And a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 by in March 1987, the US Department of Brian An&n of the Research Corporation, Energy (DOE) announced that it will dou- a private foundation supporting basic re- ble its program to provide undergraduate search at universities and colleges, and 11 science and engineering students (juniors chemistry faculty members at small, chief- and seniors) the opportunity to do research ly undergraduate institutions. The CUR at one of five DOE laboratories (Argonne, seeks to encourage research in the under- Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak graduate environment. There are currently Ridge, and Pacific Northwest). 17 71 faculty participants from chemistry, bi- In a recent editorial in ZHE SCIENTIS~, ology, physics, and geology departments at I emphasized the importance of undergrad- private and public undergraduate colleges uate participation in research. IS That and universities in the US. The CUR has editorird prompted a letter from Colin Ea- published directorieszo-zz of science pro- bom, professor of chemistry, University of grams at primarily undergraduate institu- Sussex, Brighton, UK. Eabom described tions and has organized conferences to in- how undergraduates at Sussex (as well as crease professional and public awareness of at the University of Essex) can obtain their the important role that research plays–both baccalaureate degrees by research work. He for students and faculty-at these schools. wrote: “For 16 years we at the University It rdso publishes the triannual Council on of Sussex have offered, as an option, a de- Unakrgraduate Research Newsletter, which gree program in chemistry called ‘Chemis- covers a wide variety of news items and ar- try by Thesis.’ In this program, after six ticles about support for and the effectiveness months at the university, students move into of research at undergraduate colleges and a research laboratory alongside postgraduate universities. (Its editor is Michael P. Doyle, and postdoctoral research workers, and take who can be reached at the Department of up carefully chosen research topics. ” Chemistry, Trinity University, 715 Stadium Research forms the chief activity of the Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78284.) From students from then on, he explained, al- 1981 to 1983, when NSF support for under- though to acquire sufficiently broad train- graduate science education and research in- ing, students also attend lectures. Further- volving undergraduates was in abeyance, the

233 CUR kept dive concerns about undergrad- up to faculty at undergraduate institutions. uate research and played an important role Previously only fact&y members at PhD- in reviving support for such activity. granting universities were eligible for these awards. This is yet another sign of the grow- ing recognition that science faculty at undergraduate institutions often conduct Faculty Research at Priiarily high-quality research and deserve support Undergraduate Institutions of the same sort given to faculty at the na- tion’s large research institutions. As mentioned, the CUR works not only Although many primarily undergraduate to advance student participation in research institutions conduct excellent research and but also to advance fundiig for research con- produce excellent graduates, their efforts ducted by the science faculty of undergrad- have not been supported by the federal gov- uate colleges and universities. Despite lim- ernment on a level commensurate with their ited federal funds for research grants (as weU contributions. Research at undergraduate irt- as for instruments and facilities), the absence stitutions has historically received low of graduate students, and in general heavier priority in funding by the NSF, the National teaching loads than at research universities, Institutes of Health, and other federal agen- the faculty of this group of science-active cies. Since 1983, however, the funding pic- colleges produce more publications than ture has brightened; from 1983to 1987there many would suspect. Of the 50 institutions has been a three-fold increase in federal in the Oberlin group, 60 percent of their funding for research at predominantly faculty have averaged one article published undergraduate institutions. 25 in each of the past five years. 10(p. 43) The documentation for the effectiveness Last year Jerry P. Gollub, Department of of these institutions overwhelmingly sup- Physics, Haverford College, Pemsylvania, ports a continuation and increase of federal and Neal B. Abraham, Department of Phys- support. I have been able only to touch upon ics, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, re- the evidence. AISOcompelling are the nu- ported that the Research Corporation made merous vignettes published about successfid 34 awards to principal investigators in faculty at these smaller institutions-ancc- physics at undergraduate institutions during dotd but instructive stories that I recom- 1985-1986. Faculty members at undergrad- mend to the reader.~s,zs Meanwhile, I hope uate institutions, they noted, receive support this brief overview serves to bring to the at- from the NSF, the Sloan, Guggenheim, and tention of scientists and science policymak- Ftdbright foundations, and many other high- ers, here and abroad, the important role of ly competitive sources.zs A similar study, the undergraduate institutions in training assessing the ability of chemistry depart- tomorrow’s scientists and in advancing sci- ments at primarily undergraduate institutions entific knowledge. to attract support, was recently conducted by Phdip Myhre, Department of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Califor- nia. Myhre concludes that “there has been a significant increase in annurd funding in ***** the form of individual research and equip- ment grants to faculty at predominantly undergraduate institutions.’ ’24 Recently, the NSF’s Presidential Young Investigators award program, designed to My thanks to Tern Freedman and David encourage young scientists and engineers to A. Pendlebury for their help in the prepara- enter and remain in academia, was opened tion of this essay. C,w1s1

234 REFERENCES

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