Authentic undergraduate research experiences have been suggested to encourage retention of individuals in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. However, these experiences can be difficult to implement in postsecondary curricula. Students must often seek research experiences outside of the classroom through opportunities such as summer internships. Authentic experiences allow students to think and work like a scientist, which can cause them to develop and maintain a scientific identity. Integration of authentic research experiences into course curricula has the potential to reach more students. Our study took place in a biotechnology laboratory course series that provided students with authentic research experiences. We documented student identities after the experience and explored how these identities related to future career aspirations. Our findings show that authentic experiences may aid in developing and maintaining a scientific identity, as well as maintain interest in STEM careers. We identified critical factors for facilitating development of a scientific identity and provided evidence that supports the link between scientific identities and future STEM research-based career aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]