JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOLOGY EDUCATION DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v19i1.1381
Supplemental Materials for “Everyone Was Nice…But I Was Still Left Out”: An Interview Study About Deaf Interns’ Research Experiences in STEM Megan Majocha, Zachary Davenport, Derek C. Braun, and Cara Gormally* Department of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC 20002
Table of Contents (Total pages 7)
Appendix 1: Description of data analysis and example of our data analysis Appendix 2: Case studies
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, E333 Hall Memorial Building, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002. Phone: 202-651-5385. E-mail:
[email protected]. Received: 30 June 2017, Accepted: 28 December 2017, Published: 27 April 2018. ©2018 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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Appendix 1. Description of data analysis and example of our data analysis. Description of data analysis: Each complete thought from interviews was coded using in vivo and descriptive coding to capture participants’ thoughts and identify major themes (14, 15). The authors coded the interviews individually, then compared and discussed codes until reaching agreement (14). The coding process was iterative: we added and eliminated coding categories, recategorized codes as needed through continued analysis and discussion of interview data (14). When new codes did not emerge or indicate redundancy, we considered coding to be completed. Following coding, we organized codes into construct categories to understand how codes were related (following Miles and Huberman, 1994). Patterns and themes in the data were identified through this iterative process, revealing themes that made internship experiences successful for deaf students (14). One example our data analysis: our codebook, showing codes, definitions of codes, and coding of examples quotes. Code Name
Code Definition
Internship Type
The type of internship (e.g., shadowing, research experience, etc.).
Example "It wasn't a research internship, it was mostly shadowing a doctor. I would do work for her." -Annie “The research was about polymers. I had to do different experiments with polymers and various treatments with chemicals.” -Celia
Typical Workday
What happens on a typical workday.
“Every Monday and Wednesday we had a few hours of lecture, then we worked in the lab for the rest of day.” -Celia “In the mornings, we had our times set. The other intern and I would show up at the lab here. We worked 8 hours every day.” Skyler
Learning Experiences
What the participant learned that had a big impact on them.
“I learned how to work with other people.” -Celia “I did not really learn something related to my field, but I learned how business works.” -Brain
Internship Duration
The length of the internship.
“It was an 8-week internship.” Natalie “I finished the project within only a week.” -Brain
Self-Improvement
Self-reflection or a strategy to promote their own self-improvement.
"I wrote notes in my personal journal. With [the notes], I can see what I need to work on." -Natalie
Intern’s motivation
Participant’s motivation (or lack of motivation) as related to the internship.
“I would wake up in the morning feeling motivated to go to work.” -Skyler “I was very motivated during the first week because finally was a hands-on experience.” -Natalie
Communication access problems
Problems with communication access (e.g., no interpreter provided).
“Nobody was willing to pay for an interpreter.” -Natalie “When I said tape, the interpreter would say “tape” as in a “sticky strip object,” not a polymer. I was like "no, tape is a polymer." -Celia
Intern’s communication strategies
How the participant communicated with their supervisor/mentor/co-workers (e.g., texting, writing, via interpreter, etc.)
"I didn't have an interpreter. We wrote down things to communicate." -Natalie “We sat next to each other with our laptops to communicate via skype.” -Brain
Co-workers' communication Strategies
What coworkers and supervisor/mentor did to communicate with participant (e.g., writing, learning some signs)
"My office area was very good with communication. They really picked up signs just for me." -Natalie “I would rather ask for clarification right at the moment. If not, then she'd suggest that I look some things up on Google for clarification.” -Natalie
Little or no prior deaf awareness/exposure
Positive deaf awareness/exposure
Self-Advocacy
Coworkers and/or supervisor/mentor demonstrate a lack of awareness of Deaf culture. They may not have interacted with deaf individuals before. This can translate to poor attitudes toward deaf individuals (e.g., seeing deaf as deficient).
“She immediately said ‘How could you become a doctor? You're deaf.’” -Natalie
Coworkers and supervisor/mentor demonstrate awareness of Deaf culture and how to work with deaf individuals (eg., have good attitudes toward deaf individuals).
“They were aggressive and assertive; they wanted to understand and learn. They would ask me what the signs are [for a particular word or phrase] without hesitating.” Natalie
What the participant did to self-advocate and support themself.
"If I see something I don't like, I would speak up immediately. I don't sit back." -Natalie
“It was hard to hear, as well because everyone was talking. I would just eat my food. Sometimes they would try to include me, but they would keep talking.” -Skyler
“I do the captions myself. I do not need to rely on interpreters for that. I am confident with my English.” Skyler Positive outcomes
Positive outcomes resulting from participating in the internship experience (e.g., networking, making friends, finding a potential future job, etc.).
“I bonded with them and became friends. We exchanged emails to keep in touch.” -Natalie “I went out with my co-workers a few times.” -Brain
Mentor's advocacy
How coworkers and supervisor/mentors advocated for and supported the participant
“She would come to each one of us individually at some random time during the day to make sure we are doing ok.” -Celia “The company treated me well; I felt like I was a permanent worker, like an assistant to my boss.” -Annie
Interaction with other deaf individuals
Seeking out other deaf individuals at internship to talk with.
"Giving and receiving advice. Giving tips. If there was nothing to do, I would chat with the other deaf intern.” -Brain “I worked with three people-- two students from one university and one student from another university.” -Celia
Negative outcomes
Negative outcomes resulting from participating in the internship. (e.g., not receiving any support, no potential future job, etc.)
“They did not approve my work. I pulled up the website that I designed, but it wasn't live; I was so embarrassed.” -Brain “The social life during the internship was awful.” -Skyler
Negative social experiences
Negative social experiences. (For e.g., being left out, poor communication access, not making any friends, etc.)
“But it would be nice if there was another deaf person there. Everyone was nice about it but there was still poor communication. I still felt left out.” -Skyler “It depends on people, too. There are people that I just cannot get along with.” -Skyler
Appendix 2. Case Studies Case study #1 Alex was a junior in college majoring in chemistry, looking forward to his first internship in a research laboratory this summer. Before his internship started, he emailed his mentor to let him know that he is deaf. He anticipated that his mentor may not have experience working with a deaf student. He was little surprised when his mentor emailed back but didn’t ask any questions about communication access, or Deaf culture and identity. However, he was so excited about the internship that he didn’t think too much about it. ”I’ll explain when we meet in person,” he thought. Alex arrived at his internship motivated to begin. He wanted this to be a successful experience. He hoped that this summer research project would result a conference presentation. He was excited to meet the other two interns in his lab and his mentor. But he was also a little nervous since he had never worked in a lab before. What would his mentor expect? For example, he knew he would be expected to read scientific papers, but he had only read a few in class before. Sometimes the scientific jargon was really complicated. When Alex finally met his mentor, he introduced himself by using a piece of paper to write down his name and other information that he wanted to share. He handed the paper to her, she read it, looked at him, and spoke to him. He wasn’t certain what she was saying. Flustered, he decided not to ask for clarification; instead, he proceeded to write down another question on the paper. “Will I have an interpreter for this internship?” He passed the paper to her again. She read the question, then, instead of writing back and forth as he was trying to model, she spoke and gestured to answer his question. She said that it wouldn’t be necessary for him to have an interpreter because the internship didn’t require much communication. He was surprised by her answer. He believed that he had a right to get an interpreter for communication access--and he was concerned about the rocky start to their communication. Unfortunately, he wasn’t assertive enough to share his concerns. During the first few weeks of his internship, Alex was deeply disappointed with the amount of work he was given, the lack of communication access in the lab environment, and the lack of socialization with colleagues. Alex never had an opportunity to formally introduce himself to his co-workers and other interns, which made him feel awkward. Also, his mentor hadn’t checked on his progress and he was only given minimal instructions about the procedures for certain research tasks. He recognized there was something odd about the amount of work that the other interns, who were hearing, were doing, in comparison to himself. Their work seemed to be more challenging and interesting than his. Alex emailed his mentor and asked that she give him the same amount of work--and challenging work--as the other interns. She declined his request without an explanation. Alex was frustrated: he couldn’t understand why she refused to give him more interesting, challenging work. He wondered if his mentor thought he wasn’t capable of more challenging work because he was deaf. However, Alex didn’t confront her about it because he was afraid that he might give her the wrong impression: he didn’t want to be difficult. By the end of the internship, Alex had little motivation to complete his work. Additionally, he didn’t feel welcome in the lab because his hearing colleagues made very little effort to include him. At the end of the summer, Alex felt extremely disappointed about his internship experience. Case study #2 Katie was a sophomore majoring in biology who was deaf. After taking ecology this year, she was hooked. She planned to go to graduate school in ecology. Her first step was a summer research internship. Katie carefully investigated REU programs, identifying programs that had research projects of interest to her, and that were deaffriendly (e.g., she looked for clues such as the websites described communication access services, programs included cohorts of students from diverse backgrounds, and mentors were trained in cultural competency). After many conversations with her advisor about the pros and cons of each program, Katie applied to her favorite programs. Katie was glad her advisor recommended reaching out to potential research mentors--she felt like those emails solidified which programs would be a good fit. Happily, she was accepted to one of her top choices. Katie arrived at her internship, excited to meet everyone, and to start doing research. Her research mentor had
emailed her beforehand to explain that interpreters were already scheduled for some activities, including the first week of internship orientation, brown bag group lunches, weekly seminars, lab group meetings, and the final presentation day. Her mentor also asked her for recommendations about the best communication strategies that they could use day-to-day in the lab. He said was interested to learn more about Deaf culture and hoped she’d be willing to teach the lab some American Sign Language. Katie appreciated her mentor’s pro-activeness and shared a list of strategies. She felt prepared. When Katie finally arrived at the internship, her mentor and co-workers greeted her, welcoming her to the lab. Katie, along with the other deaf intern and her mentor, went into the meeting room to discuss the research project they’d be doing during the internship as well as expectations for the poster for the final presentation day. They also made an agreement about when interpreters would be present and agreed that they’d use their own communication strategies if interpreters weren’t present. The meeting gave her a clear idea of what she would be doing. She couldn’t have been more excited. As the weeks went by, Katie found herself even more motivated to go to work everyday. Her mentor and labmates communicated with her without any problems. Without interpreters, they would write back and forth and use gestures. She also felt comfortable with the other deaf intern in the lab because they were able to advocate for each other. The two of them taught their labmates some basic American Sign Language. They were excited that their labmates were continually hungry to learn more. She was given more challenging tasks related to her project. Her mentor gave her several opportunities to use some advanced, fancy equipment available in the lab for her to use to make some observations and collect data. There was an incident caused by miscommunication that caused some major miscalculations in Katie’s data. Instead of feeling hesitant to ask for clarification, Katie immediately approached her mentor about the issue. Her mentor was very understanding and was willing to help her to do the calculations properly. At the end of her internship, Katie was amazed at how much she has learned during those few months. She felt grateful for this internship opportunity as she had developed a network in her field of interest. Her mentor offered to write her a letter of recommendation and her lab-mates wanted her to come back the following summer. She ended her internship feeling confident about working in a hearing environment again in the future. Case Study #3 Jacob, a junior majoring in chemistry, was deaf. He planned to participate in a research internship during the summer after his junior year. He wanted to learn how to develop drugs for people with neurological disorders. Jacob was thrilled when he found a summer internship at another university. He received an acceptance letter from the internship program, confirming that he’d be a part of the neuroscience research group. After receiving the letter, he contacted his internship mentor to confirm whether he’d receive any support for the internship, such as interpreter, to make communication accessible. His mentor replied, confirming that his university would provide an interpreter for Jacob’s communication needs for the internship. Jacob was relieved to know that he would have interpreting services during special occasions, meetings, and to support everyday communication in the laboratory. He thanked his mentor for his time to request an interpreter, and he ended the video call feeling satisfied with their conversation. Afterwards, Jacob realized that he had forgotten to ask his mentor if there were any other resources that he can use instead of solely relying on the interpreter, such as closed captions, telecommunication relay services, and visual information aids to allow him to comprehend information better. When Jacob arrived at the internship, he met the interpreter and he was glad to have the interpreter with him. He introduced himself to his mentor and his group via the interpreter. Then, his mentor showed him around the building, laboratory room, and pointed out unique laboratory technology. Once campus tour was finished, Jacob decided to check out all the resources that the university might provide for deaf individuals. He asked his mentor whether the university had any specific resources for deaf individuals. His mentor told him that he could not think of any resources that he could provide but he would call to request a TTY (Teletypewriter) for him. Jacob was surprised--TTY was rather old technology. Jacob asked his mentor whether the university might have newer technology that he could use instead of TTY. However, his mentor was unaware of other resources, such as video relay service (VRS) that could help to Jacob to communicate quickly and effectively via a long distance interpreter. But Jacob decided to accept the resources that his mentor had provided. He thought it was better to have TTY than nothing.
During the internship, Jacob’s mentor helped him to run protocols to develop new medicines. One day, Jacob was could not understand one part of the process related to drug development. He asked his mentor for further explanation about that part of drug development, and his mentor willingly explained more. However, Jacob was frustrated: he was still unable to fully understand the process. His mentor suggested that Jacob watch a video about the process of drug development. Jacob began to watch the video, excited to see the process in action. However, the video did not have any closed captions or visual information aids. Jacob was frustrated: the video was completely inaccessible to him and he was disappointed that his mentor didn’t realize that closed captions were essential. At the end of the summer, Jacob reflected on his internship. He truly enjoyed his time doing research with his mentor. However, he was deeply disappointed with some aspects of the internship--and realized that this was a result of lack of accessibility to critical information. He wondered how future internships might be better--and what could be done to educate future internship mentors about communication accessibility. Case Study #4 Jennifer was a junior, interested in environmental science. She took a lot of biology courses during her first two years of college. As a result, she wanted to participate in a research internship in order to learn about what environmental scientists do. Once she identified her favorite internship, she contacted her potential mentor, Dr. Jones, to find out if the internship would be able to provide accommodations. Dr. Jones told her that she’d have an interpreter as well as other accommodations, such as video relay service, closed captions, and Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART). Feeling reassured, Jennifer decided to apply for the internship. Several weeks later, Jennifer received an email stating that she was chosen as one of a few interns to participate. She was thrilled! Before she arrived at her internship, Jennifer wondered if there were any other deaf interns in her program. She thought to herself, wouldn’t it be great if there was someone else who knew my language? She emailed her research mentor, Dr. Jones, to ask. Dr. Jones replied her email, telling her that she was his first and only deaf intern ever. He also mentioned that there would be 25 hearing interns that she’d be working with. Reading the email, Jennifer wondered what it’d be like to be the only deaf intern. She decided that she’d do her best to make it work. Several weeks later at her internship, Jennifer was deeply disappointed with most of her peers. She felt left out. Most of the hearing interns didn’t make an effort to interact nor work with her. She tried to write back and forth and use gestures to communicate with them; however, the other interns were only able to communicate a little bit with her since they didn’t know to interact with her due to her deafness. Jennifer realized that the hearing interns were only able to communicate with her about research when the interpreter was present. Otherwise, Jennifer felt left out. She knew they were talking about more than the research project. She felt frustrated as the other interns chatted and laughed while they worked--while she worked alone. Dr. Jones acknowledged her hard work, but he didn’t recognize her struggles with the hearing interns. She wasn’t sure what to do--whether she should bring her concerns to Dr. Jones’ attention or not. At the end of the internship, Jennifer recognized that she had acquired a lot of knowledge about environmental science. She felt that she had a good grasp about what environmental scientists do. However, she was frustrated with the other interns and felt sorry that she had completely missed out on socializing and networking because she was left out. Despite being a generally assertive individual, Jennifer was unable to communicate or socialize with her fellow interns. Jennifer decided that she wanted to find an internship for next summer in which she’d be part of a cohort of deaf students--or working with hearing students at an internship that valued inclusivity and who would make an effort to meet her halfway.
