Highlighting altruism in geoscience careers aligns with diverse US student ideals better than emphasizing working outdoors

A common approach to attract students in the United States to the geosciences is to emphasize outdoor experiences in the natural world. However, it is unclear how successful this strategy is. Specifically, the geosciences have been less successful than other sciences at recruiting a diverse workforce that reflects different perspectives and life experiences. Here we present a survey of students enrolled in College Algebra at a Hispanic-serving institution in the southwestern United States where, of 1550 students surveyed, 55.3% identified as an underrepresented minority (URM). We find that surveyed students care little about working outdoors. Instead, they rate altruistic factors, such as helping people or the environment, as most important. Female respondents rate these factors higher than male respondents. We also find that many respondents know little about what a career in geoscience entails. We argue that better informing students about the altruistic potential of geoscience careers would be an effective strategy to broaden recruitment. The prospect of working outdoors, which has commonly been emphasized in geoscience recruitment, is less attractive to students than altruistic factors when considering future career paths, according to a survey of students in a diverse southwestern US college.

Automated summary

A survey of students in a diverse southwestern US college showed that students are less interested in outdoor work in geosciences, and instead prioritize altruistic factors such as helping others or the environment. Female respondents prioritize these factors more than male respondents, and many students have little knowledge about geoscience careers.