Knowledge Bank

The John Glenn College of Public Affairs is the Ohio State University’s public policy and management school with nearly 400 undergraduate students. Recently, the College was awarded an Undergraduate Research Access Innovation Seed Grant to increase undergraduate research take-up through an “Undergraduate Research Pathway.” As a part of the grant, the College engaged in a research project to assist in the development of the pathway. This first phase of this research project aimed to document the facilitators and barriers that exist within the College that support or prevent undergraduate students from engaging in research. Motivated by these initial findings, this present thesis research asks the question: What aspects of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs as an education institution promote or inhibit student participation in undergraduate research? Data was collected from ten interviews and two focus groups with undergraduates in the Glenn College, a Brown Bag conversation with Glenn College faculty, and administered a survey of the Glenn College undergraduate student body. Analysis of this data found that, for undergraduate students, information asymmetries, low research self-efficacy, competing opportunity costs of time and money, and a perceived lack of support were the primary barriers to engaging in research. For faculty, administrative burden, interest alignment, and a mismatch of incentives to engage undergraduates in research were characterized as the primary barriers. By applying a theoretical framework that combines institutional theory, organizational program implementation settings, and the theory that organizations are not race-neutral, I explain why these barriers may exist and offer considerations for the creation and implementation of programming aimed at increasing student engagement with research opportunities in the College.