Abstract
Background: Research is known to be one of the fundamental tools in developing science especially in medicine. Therefore, conducting research at undergraduate level is significantly important.. It is also of interest to investigate if their barriers and motivations towards participation in research activities are significantly different across students' characteristicsat Imam University-College of medicine, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: An online, anonymous, cross-sectional, self-rating survey was conducted. The aim of this study is to identify barriers and motivations towards participation in undergraduate research activities was performed to determine if there is a significant difference in barriers and motivations towards participation in undergraduate research activities across females and males students' characteristics.
Results: One-hundred and twenty-four students (n=124/280) participated in the survey with a 44.3% response rate. The top three barriers toward participation in undergraduate research activities were "lack of support" with mean score of 3.97, "lack of on-campus basic science research laboratories"(3.82), and "lack of effective Undergraduate Research Committee" (3.81). Statistically significant differences of means were identified by academic year regarding experience of previous bad research (1st vs 2nd year: 2.72 vs. 3.38, p = 0.003) and hatred towards scientific complexity of research (1st vs 2nd year: 2.84 vs. 3.71, p < 0.001). In terms of motivation, the most important attribute that drives students to participate in research activities is to facilitate entry into competitive residency training programs, particularly among female students that scored this attribute significantly higher than the male students. (female vs. male: 4.27 vs. 3.70, p = 0.001).
Conclusion: The results were similar to local and western studies. Students show very high motivation to participate in undergraduate activities particularly to facilitate entry into competitive residency training programs. Research committees should consider these barriers and perform significant solutions.