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College Major Choice
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Socio-economic Status and Subject Choice at 14: Do They Interact to Affect University Access

– There are substantial socioeconomic differences in the subjects that young people study from age 14 to 16.
– Young people from advantaged households take more selective subjects, have higher odds of doing three or more facilitating subjects, higher odds of studying a full set of EBacc-eligible subjects (including English, Maths, History or Geography, two sciences and a modern or ancient language), but lower odds of taking Applied GCSEs (e.g. Applied Hospitality, Applied Health or Applied Manufacturing) than less advantaged young people.
– There were important differences by school characteristics, which may be a result of differential opportunities, subjects offered and within school policies.
– Even holding other factors constant, pupils in non-selective schools within selective local authorities study a less academically selective set of subjects.
– When considering university entry, and admission to high-status universities in particular, there are large raw differences associated with studying more academic combinations of subjects.
However, once differences in young people’s backgrounds and prior attainment associated with these differences in subjects studied are taken into account, these differences are, at most,
small.
– The results for studying the full set of EBacc subjects and for studying any applied subjects do show residual associations with university attendance.
– If young people from different socioeconomic backgrounds were studying a more similar curriculum between ages 14 and 16 it would be unlikely to make much of difference to the inequality in university entry highlighted by previous studies.
– Household income, home ownership and higher parental education increase the odds of taking three STEM subjects
– Socio-economic differentials in access to STEM are largely driven by prior attainment.
– Participation in STEM subjects does not vary by school characteristics, with the exception of the proportion of Free School Meals (FSM) in the school which is negatively associated with doing three or more STEM subjects.

Foreign Peer Effects and STEM Major Choice

This paper aims to estimate the impact of foreign peers on native STEM major choice.

An Exploration into the Potential Career Effects from Middle and High School Mathematics Experiences: A Mixed Methods Investigation into STEM Career Choice

– Lower levels of mathematics anxiety, higher levels of mathematics courses completed in high school, positive teacher experiences, and multiple instances of exposure to STEM fields while in middle and high school increased the likelihood that students would choose a STEM major.
– Lower levels of mathematics anxiety and being placed into higher-ability mathematics courses in middle and high school correlated with higher levels of mathematics self-efficacy.
– Higher levels of mathematics self-efficacy in middle and high school led to increased instances of pursuing a STEM career.
– Students enrolled in at least Calculus I while in high school were significantly more likely to choose a STEM major in college.
– Interviews revealed a larger percentage of STEM majors indicating positive mathematics teacher experiences than non-STEM majors.

Laying the Tracks for Successful Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education: What Can We Learn from Comparisons of Immigrant-Native Achievement in the USA?

This paper examines the immigrant-native achievement gap in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in college in the USA.

Family Socioeconomic Status and Choice of STEM Major in College: An Analysis of a National Sample

Does students’ decision of STEM enrollment in college differ systematically by family SES?

Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models

This paper asks whether exposure to female role models may be an effective way to induce more
women to major in a male-dominated field.

Collective Effects of Individual, Behavioral, and Contextual Factors on High School Students’ Future STEM Career Plans

1. What are the impacts of school and out-of-school-related activities on students’
intention to pursue a STEM degree?
2. What are the impacts of both teacher and parental educational expectations on
students’ intentions to pursue a STEM degree?
3. What are the impacts of a students’ self-efficacy in math and science and college
expectations on the likelihood of pursuing a STEM degree?
4. What are the impacts of interaction effects between individual, environment, and
behavior on students’ likelihood of pursuing a STEM degree?

Weeded Out? Gendered Responses to Failing Calculus

(1) Who takes and who fails calculus? (2) What are the schooling outcomes associated with failing calculus? (3) Are there gender differences
in the schooling outcomes associated with failing calculus?

Macrosystem Analysis of Programs and Strategies to Increase Underrepresented Populations in the Geosciences

– Key approaches identified in the literature to advance participation of underrepresented populations in the geosciences include: mentoring, peer support networks and community building, bridge programs, pedagogies, undergraduate research experiences, institutional climate and culture, specific geoscience education programs.
– In mentorship of underrepresented students, interactions of minority students with their research mentor can result in increased likelihood of graduate school pursuit and in choosing a career in scientific research.
– A faculty member’s commitment to fostering the student’s academic success results in positive mentor relationship outcomes regardless of the racial similarity between mentor and mentee.
– As it pertains to the geosciences in particular, positive student outcomes of mentoring have been demonstrated in geoscience-specific programs.
– Macrosystem perspectives of peer support networks and community building efforts play an important role in fostering student engagement and retention in STEM majors and positive student outcomes.
– Many positive student outcomes are associated with bridge programs, including increased interest in the geosciences, relationship building between student and faculty members, development of research skills, knowledge gained regarding careers in STEM and the geosciences, knowledge gained about the college application process, and increased self-efficacy.

Decomposing the Racial Gap in STEM Major Attrition: A Course-Level Investigation

This paper examines differences in STEM retention between minority and non-minority
undergraduate students. It examines the role of ability in the switching decision and timing, they estimate STEM and non-STEM ability, and then compare the joint distribution of students who switch out of STEM versus STEM stayers.

Math-Oriented Fields of Study and the Race Gap in Graduation Likelihoods at Elite Colleges

This study examines the relationship between chosen field of study and the race gap in college completion among students at elite colleges.

Understanding the Changing Dynamics of the Gender Gap in Undergraduate Engineering Majors: 1971-2011

This paper examines the level and determinants of students’ plans to major in engineering when entering college. (1) How has the gender gap in incoming college students’ intent to major in engineering changed over the past 4 decades? (2) What are the determinants of women’s and men’s decision to major in engineering versus all other fields? To what extent have these determinants and/or their salience changed over time for women and men? (3) To what extent is the gender gap in the selection of engineering due to (a) gender differences in attributes, versus (b) gender differences in the salience of these attributes? How has this changed over time?

Examining STEM Bachelor's Degree Completion for Students with Differing Propensities at College Entry

1) What aspects of students’ demographic, socioeconomic, and academic backgrounds influence selecting a STEM major during the first year of college? 2) To what extent do students’ first year propensities toward a STEM education moderate the influence that first year financial aid and declaring a STEM major, as well as academic performance and integration in the academic and social environments have on STEM degree completion?

Ethnic Variation in Gender-STEM Stereotypes and STEM Participation: An Intersectional Approach

The authors examine ethnic variation in gender-
STEM stereotypes and STEM participation among African American and European American college students.

Preferences, Constraints, and the Process of Sex Segregation in College Majors: A Choice Analysis

  1. To test whether certain fields are perceived as less hospitable to women and avoided by them for that reason.
  2. To test whether women and men anticipate the demands imposed by gender-specific parenthood roles and eschew majors that are incompatible with these either because majors do not provide the desired work-family balance, or not the earnings level necessary to fulfill the breadwinner role.
  3. To test whether women’s and men’s choices are constrained by friends’ and parents’ potential disapproval for sex-atypical choices.

Predicting Student Enrollment and Persistence in College STEM Fields Using an Expanded P-E Fit Framework: A Large-scale Multilevel Study

– Ability was found to moderate the effects of interest fit on the behavioral outcomes, thus expanding the P-E fit framework.
– Gender moderates the effects of these individual difference predictors, such that the effects are weaker for females than for males in predicting STEM choice.
– For STEM persistence, the opposite effect was found: The relationship between ability and persistence is stronger for females than it is for males.
– Results supported the hypothesized moderating effect of ability on the relationship between interest fit and STEM choice for both STEM Science (vs. non-STEM) and STEM Quantitative (vs. non-STEM) when ACT was used to represent the construct of academic ability but not when HSGPA was used for the purpose.
– Statistically significant findings were obtained for the interaction effects between gender and ability (with both ACT and HSGPA)
– There was a statistically significant effect between interest fit and gender for STEM Quantitative (vs. non-STEM) but not for STEM Science (vs. non-STEM).
– The moderating effect of selectivity was found to be moderately strong.

Choosing an Undergraduate STEM Major: Family Socioeconomic Status, Individual, and Institutional Factors

The purpose of this study wasto examine college students’ enrollment decision in STEM majors with a focus on students’ family SES. This study examinedwhether there is systematic association between students’ family SES and their enrollment in STEM majorsand if so, what the direction and magnitude of the association is. The overarching research question that guided this study was: Do the enrollment in STEM majors vary for students with different family SES background? Specifically, this study addressedthe following research questions: (1) Is students’ family SES related to their decision of whether to enroll in a STEM major in college? (2) Does the enrollment decision in STEM fields vary for students with different college investment levels? and (3) Does the enrollment decision in STEM fields vary at institutions with different scales and levels of STEM major offerings?

Why Students Choose STEM Majors: Motivation, High School Learning, and Postsecondary Context of Support

1) What are the relationships among high school exposure to math and science, achievement and motivational attributes as related to math, intent to pursue STEM upon entry into postsecondary education, and entrance into STEM fields of study? 2) How are students’ initial postsecondary education experiences, such as academic interaction, receipt of financial aid, and remediation, related to STEM entrance? 3) How do these relationships vary by race, gender, and SES?

Modeling Entrance into STEM Fields of Study Among Students Beginning at Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions

1) What factors contribute to students pursuing STEM degrees in community colleges and four-year colleges? 2) Are there different barriers that underrepresented groups in STEM face? 3) What is the relationship between STEM interests and math self-efficacy beliefs, high school exposure to math and science, and high school math achievement?

Student and high-school characteristics related to completing a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) major in college

What is the relationship between completing a particular high-school mathematics curriculum and completing a STEM major in college? What is the relationship between student and high-school characteristics and performance in college level mathematics? Can the relationship be generalized across high schools of varying sizes, percentages of college-bound students, SES, and location in the US?

Gender Differences in the Paths Leading to a STEM Baccalaureate

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.

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?

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.

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.

Family Socioeconomic Status, Parental Involvement, and College Major Choices- Gender, Race/Ethnic, and Nativity Patterns

This article focuses on family socio-economic status (SES) and parental involvement to examine potential family influences on patterned college major choice by gender, race/ethnicity, and nativity.

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.

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