Science identity, or one's sense of recognition and competence as a scientist, is an invaluable tool for predicting student persistence and success, but is understudied among undergraduates completing preparatory work for later studies in medicine, nursing, and allied health (“pre-health career students”). In the United States, pre-health career students make up approximately half of all biology students and, as professionals, play important roles in caring for an aging, increasingly diverse population, managing the ongoing effects of a pandemic, and navigating socio-political shifts in public attitudes toward science and evidence-based medicine. Pre-health career students are also often members of groups marginalized and minoritized in STEM education, and generally complete their degrees in community college settings, which are chronically under-resourced and understudied. Understanding these students' science identities is thus a matter of social justice and increasingly important to public health in the United States. We examined science identity and engagement among community college biology students using two scales established and validated for use with STEM students attending four-year institutions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used on two sub-samples drawn from the pool of 846 participants to confirm that the factor structures functioned as planned among the new population. Science identity values were then compared between pre-health career students (pre-nursing and pre-allied health) and other groups. Pre-health career students generally reported interest and performance/competence on par with their traditional STEM, pre-med, and pre-dentistry peers, challenging popular assumptions about these students' interests and abilities. However, they also reported significantly lower recognition than traditional STEM and pre-med/dentistry students. The implications for public health, researchers, and faculty are discussed.

中文翻译：

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本科生健康科学课程中有“科学人”吗？评估社区大学环境中护理预科和联合健康预科学生的科学认同

科学认同感，或者说一个人作为科学家的认可感和能力，是预测学生坚持和成功的宝贵工具，但在完成医学、护理和联合健康领域后续学习的准备工作的本科生中，科学认同感并没有得到充分研究（“健康前职业”）学生”）。在美国，健康前职业学生约占所有生物学学生的一半，作为专业人士，他们在照顾老龄化、日益多样化的人口、管理流行病的持续影响以及应对社会政治转变方面发挥着重要作用公众对科学和循证医学的态度。健康前职业学生也常常是 STEM 教育中被边缘化和少数群体的成员，并且通常在社区大学环境中完成学位，长期资源不足且研究不足。因此，了解这些学生的科学身份事关社会正义，对美国的公共卫生也越来越重要。我们使用两个量表检查了社区大学生物学学生的科学认同和参与度，这两个量表是为就读四年制院校的 STEM 学生而建立和验证的。对从 846 名参与者中抽取的两个子样本进行了探索性和验证性因子分析，以确认因子结构在新人群中按计划发挥作用。然后将健康预科职业学生（护理预科和联合健康预科）与其他群体的科学认同值进行比较。健康前职业学生普遍报告其兴趣和表现/能力与传统的 STEM、医学预科、和牙科预科同龄人，挑战关于这些学生的兴趣和能力的流行假设。然而，他们的认可度也明显低于传统 STEM 和医学预科/牙科学生。讨论了对公共卫生、研究人员和教师的影响。