This article focuses on specific aspects of high school achievement, attitudes, and course-taking behaviors to understand gender differences in attaining STEM degrees, as well as the pathways of STEM degree attainment.
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Are Math Readiness and Personality Predictive of First-Year Retention in Engineering?
The current study foci are on both entering scholastic aptitude and affective factors of personality in aiding in the prediction of retention in engineering at the end of the freshman year.
Race, Gender, and Measures of Success in Engineering Education
To examine Engineering majors by race and gender and examine multiple metrics for “success.”
A Qualitative Investigation of Factors Promoting the Retention and Persistence of Students of Color in STEM
This study examined salient factors of retention and persistence among college students of color enrolled in STEM education at a predominantly White institution (PWI).
Who Wants to Have a Career in Science or Math? Exploring Adolescents' Future Aspirations by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
The authors investigate how different racial/ethnic and gender subgroups compare to White males in terms of adolescent career aspirations in science and math, further considering the role that achievement and attitudes may play in shaping disparities at this early point in occupational trajectories.
Academic Achievement Among STEM Aspirants: Why Do Black and Latino Students Earn Lower Grades Than Their White and Asian Counterparts?
Identify the institutional and student-level characteristics that significantly impact the cumulative GPA of graduating seniors, in particular those graduating seniors who entered college with an interest in majoring in STEM.
Indicators of Success in STEM Majors: A Cohort Study
If there were factors attributed to STEM students who graduated that might serve as predictors or indicators of successful navigation in STEM majors?
"Doing" Science Versus "Being" a Scientist: Examining 10/11-Year-Old School Children's Constructions of Science Through the Lens of Identity
In this study, the authors attempt to (a) understand what are the formative influences on student career aspirations between the ages of 10 and 14 and (b) attempt to foster and maximize the interest of this cohort of young people, particularly girls, in STEM-related careers.
Is Science Me? High School Students' Identities, Participation and Aspirations in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
To explore why some who were once very interested in science, engineering, or medicine (SEM) majors or careers decided to leave the pipeline in high school while others persisted.
Persistence of Women and Minorities in STEM Field Majors: Is it the School that Matters?
Which factors contribute to persistence of all students in STEM field majors, and in particular the persistence of women and minorities?
Who succeeds in STEM studies? An analysis of Binghamton University undergraduate students
Who is more likely to enter and graduate with a STEM major?
Race and Academic Achievement in Racially Diverse High Schools
The authors investigate whether racially diverse high schools offer equality of educational opportunity to students from different racial and ethnic groups. This is examined by measuring the relative representation of minority students in advanced math classes at the beginning of high school and estimating whether and how this opportunity structure limits the level of achievement attained by African American and Latino students by the end of high school.
The Role of Peers and Grades in Determining Major Persistence in the Sciences
This paper examines the determinants of entering and then persisting in physical and life science majors. Also, it investigates the impact of one’s peers on major persistence.
The effect of instructor race and gender on student persistence in STEM fields
To see if the race or gender of the instructor effects persistence of initial STEM majors in a STEM field after the first semester and first year.
Attrition in STEM Fields at a Liberal Arts College: The Importance of Grades and Pre-Collegiate Preferences
To quantify the important factors responsible for the high attrition rates in STEM majors, particularly in relation to gender.
Examining the STEM Educational Pipeline: The Influence of Pre-College Factors on the Educational Trajectory of African American students
1) What pre-college factors predict African-American students’ decision to engage in post-secondary education? 2) What pre-college factors predict African-American students’ decision to major in a STEM field? 3) What pre-college factors predict STEM degree attainment among African American students?
What do we know about explanations for dropout/opt out among young people from STM higher education programmes?
To explore whether research on retention and non-completion in higher education, and in STM programmes in particular, has produced findings that can identify a direction forward for HE institutions and programmes to take measures to reduce the number of students leaving their chosen HE programme
Academic Success for STEM and Non-STEM Majors
1) What background characteristics, ability measures, financial support systems, and academic support mechanisms help explain retention and/or graduation for students in both STEM and non-STEM majors by the end of the sixth year? 2) Are the predictors of retention and/or graduation by the end of the sixth year different for STEM and non-STEM majors? 3) Are underrepresented students in STEM majors more likely than traditional students in STEM majors to be retained/graduated in six years when controlling for selected background, environmental, financial, and academic measures?
School Composition and Contextual Effects on Student Outcomes
Examine the relationships among school composition, several aspects of school and classroom context, and students’ literacy skills in science.
Academic Achievement in the First Year of College: Evidence of the Pervasive Effects of the High School Context
1) What are the unique effects of students’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, precollege academic performance, capital acquisition, and dimensions of the high school context on first year academic performance in college?
2) Do the effects of the high school context differ by students’ demographic or socioeconomic background characteristics?
Profiles of Urban, Low SES, African American Girls' Attitudes Toward Science: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study
What are the urban, low SES, African American girls’ attitudes toward science and science
learning? What aspects of their experiences and understandings contribute to differences in attitudes?
Student Characteristics, Pre-College, College, and Environmental Factors as Predictors of Majoring In and Earning a STEM Degree: An Analysis of Students Attending a Hispanic Serving Institution
1) Are there significant differences/relationships between the characteristics of Hispanic and White students in STEM majors at a Hispanic Serving Institution? 2) What factors predict students’ decisions to declare a major in STEM? 3) What factors predict students’ decisions to change majors from non-STEM to STEM? 4) What factors predict STEM degree attainment?
Examining the Academic Success of Latino Students in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Majors
1) To what extent does cultural capital and cultural congruity affect the academic performance of Latino students’ majoring in STEM fields? 2) To what extent does campus climate, as measured through academic-related experiences of Latino students in STEM majors affect their academic performance?
A Method for Identifying Variables for Predicting STEM Enrollment
This research examines demographic, academic, attitudinal, andexperiential data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) for over 12,000 students at two universities to test a methodology for identifying variables showing significant differences between students intending to major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) versus non-STEM subjects. Identifying potential candidates for STEM enrollment necessi-tates a methodology for analyzing databases containing demo-graphic, academic performance, and attitudinal information acrossa wide array of students. Finding variables that are consistently significant predictors of STEM interest and capability across a range of population subgroups requires the ability to examine a large set of variables since some variables may be significant only for specific subgroups.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Pathways: High School Science and Math Coursework and Postsecondary Degree Attainment
1) What levels of high school science and mathematics course-taking are related to future STEM baccalaureate degree attainment among all degree recipients? 2) How do students of different race, class, and gender groups differ in science and mathematics course-taking levels? 3) How does high school course-taking account for these disparities in STEM attainment?
Effects of learning about gender discrimination on adolescent girls' attitudes toward and interest in science
To examine whether adolescent girls’ interest in, and attitudes toward, science are affected by knowledge about gender discrimination in the field.
Gender Ratios in High School Science Departments: The Effect of Percent Female Faculty on Multiple Dimensions of Students' Science Identities
1) How does the percentage of female science faculty affect high school students’ science perceptions, achievement, views, self-concept, and college major aspirations, which collectively define and reinforce their science identities? 2) Are the effects of percent female science faculty different for girls and boys?
Trends of School Effects on Student Achievement: Evidence from NLS:72, HSB:82, and NELS:92
This study examines the impact of schools on student achievement (mathematics, reading, and science) over time using national probability samples of high school seniors. Our objective is to determine whether schools ‘‘make a difference.’’
Factors Associated With Mathematics Achievement and Participation in Advanced Mathematics Courses: An Examination of Gender Differences From an International Perspective
This paper reports results of an exploratory study examining factors that might be associated with achievement in mathematics and participation in advanced mathematics courses in Canada, Norway, and the United States of America (USA). These factors, which were not directly related to schooling accounted for large degrees of variability in mathematics achievement scores. Research questions: 1) How are the personal and environmental variables associated with achievement in mathematics for females and males in the three countries? 2) How are the personal and environmental variables associated with participation in advanced mathematics courses for females and males in the three countries?
Effects of High School Course-Taking and Other Variables on Choice of Science and Mathematics College Majors
To examine the effects of taking particular academically intensive science and mathematics high school courses on choice of science and mathematics majors, versus other majors, in college.
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Classroom: Does it Promotes Student Learning?
Examines direct effect of classroom diversity on academic/intellectual outcomes and moderation of these by collaborative instructional approaches.
Tracking Financial Aid and Persistence of Women, Minority, and Needy Students in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics
1) What are the persistence patterns of the special student populations compared to other populations in the same institutional setting? 2) Are the special student populations financing higher education differently than the comparison groups? 3) Are there significant differences in the persistence patterns of SEM and SEM student populations based on the type of aid received? 4) Have the amounts and types of aid received by the special student populations changed over time compared to other student populations?
Persistence in Science of High-Ability Minority Students: Results of a Longitudinal Study
The purpose of this study was to construct a comprehensive model to investigate why some high-ability minority students follow through with their plans to become scientists and engineers, while others with the same plans do not.
A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention. III. Gender Differences in Student Performance and Attitudes
Why did the women in the study- whose qualifications were arguably better than those of the men when they entered the chemical engineering curriculum- earn lower grades in chemical engineering courses and exhibit progressively lower confidence levels and expectations of themselves as they advanced through the curriculum?
Choosing and Leaving Science in Highly Selective Institutions
– Of the group of 2,276 students initially interested in science, 40 percent did not finally concentrate in science, and smaller proportions of women (48 percent) than of men (66 percent) persisted.
– The most significant cognitive factor predicting these losses was low grades earned in science courses taken during the first two years of study.
– With grades held equal, gender was not a significant predictor of persistence in engineering and biology; gender added strongly to grades, however, as a factor associated with unusually large losses of women from a category that included the physical sciences and mathematics.
– Science majors regarded their instruction as too competitive, with too few opportunities to ask questions, taught by professors who were relatively unresponsive, not dedicated, and not motivating.
– Students who defected from science did so largely because of the attraction of other fields, but many shared the criticism of over competitiveness and inferior instruction, along with the view that the work was too difficult.
– Except for perceived competitiveness, women did not rate their classroom experiences as being more unpleasant than did men.