Research engagement profiles among Chinese undergraduate and postgraduate students

Abstract

Research engagement is increasingly recognized as an important component of student development in higher education, particularly in medical and health sciences disciplines, but it is often measured through isolated activities or publication status alone. This study examined research engagement as a stage-sensitive, multidimensional configuration among undergraduate and postgraduate students in China and identified experiences associated with publication-defined research output. A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted among 726 undergraduate and postgraduate respondents from medical and non-medical programs in China. Branch-specific measurement assessment included internal-consistency diagnostics, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) statistics, Bartlett’s tests of sphericity, parallel analysis, and exploratory principal-axis factor analysis. Questionnaire-derived demographic, training stage, research experience, publication, and intention to pursue further study features were also analyzed using K-means clustering, principal component visualization, Gower-distance hierarchical clustering, cross-level benchmarking, and multivariable logistic regression. Firth bias-reduced logistic regression was conducted as a sensitivity analysis for the undergraduate publication model. The research experience item sets were factorable in both branches (undergraduate KMO = 0.883, Bartlett chi-square(78) = 2304.95; postgraduate KMO = 0.856, Bartlett chi-square(120) = 1575.39; both P < 0.001). Parallel analysis retained two exploratory factors in each branch: a broad research experience factor and a publication-related output factor. K-means clustering identified two profiles in each subgroup: low research readiness (336/468, 71.8%) and developing participants (132/468, 28.2%) among undergraduates, and foundational participants (124/258, 48.1%) and a high-output mature group (134/258, 51.9%) among postgraduates. Cross-level benchmarking revealed that 72.2% of undergraduates fell below the graduate foundational profile, while only 1.5% performed at or above the graduate high-output profile. In multivariable analyses, publication-defined output was associated with participation in research projects (OR 4.35, 95% CI 1.87–10.10; P < 0.001) and participation in writing academic papers (OR 7.59, 95% CI 3.29–17.47; P < 0.001) among undergraduates. Among postgraduates, significant correlates included project guidance, participation in national research projects, conference attendance, independent paper writing, and paper-writing participation. Undergraduate students guided by a supervisor had significantly more publications, and a higher proportion of medical program postgraduates aspired to pursue doctoral or postdoctoral training compared with non-medical program postgraduates. In the undergraduate publication model, Firth correction retained the same associated factors with attenuated odds-ratio estimates. Research engagement among Chinese undergraduate and postgraduate students was heterogeneous and opportunity-structured. Students' publication output was more closely associated with advanced project participation, research supervision, conference attendance, and academic writing. The findings underscore the need for tailored, stage-specific research training and highlight the potential value of mentorship within China’s higher education and medical education context.