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Themes
The following themes came up by students during their collective interview.
Theme 3: Impressions of the Sciences at MHC before arrival
Certain members of groups 1 and 2 were quite impressed with their tours of the science facilities before they came here. Fran, from group 1, received mailings that touted the science programs here and gave her the overall impression that MHC was “one of the best place for sciences.” In group 2, Breanne did mention any brochures, but she did say that she had known before she arrived that MHC was “known for [its] sciences and women in science….”
Winnie, a member of group 1, remarked, “[Science] was one of the reasons I came [to MHC], because I wanted to bio. and history.” Winnie also mentioned the “science center” as “one of the highlights” of her tour and credited the “modern science facilities” and small class sizes as her two of her main motivators in making the decision to attend MHC. Allison, from group 2, was also impressed by the “big fancy new building” (Kendade) on her tour, and Emily chimed in, saying, “…they had lots of publicity about the new building, how the sciences were integrated and stuff like that.”
Ellen, from group 1, was encouraged to attend MHC by her high school biology teacher, who “raved about” the school “with all the support they have for their…women in science and [the campus organization] Sisters in Science and all the research opportunities available and stuff like that.”
It seems that the school offers information about the sciences on the tour and for students who somehow make it on to a science mailing list, but not to just any applicant. This suggests that MHC is not particularly interested in "converting" students to the sciences after they arrive. The students' generally negative impressions of the intro. classes, as expressed by members of all three groups, support this theory. It seems that one is expected to identify as a "science person" long before declaring a major as such or even taking intro classes.
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