1) Is high school socioeconomic composition (SEC) predictive of students’ college choice?
2) Does SEC have a direct effect on college choice and indirect effects mediated by college choice organizational habitus (CCOH) related school practices and peer, family, and staff attitudes?
3) To what degree do direct and indirect effects of SEC depend on student and school input characteristics?
The aim of this study is to understand the differential impact of the number of on-track students in a general chemistry lecture relative to late-track students on STEM completion for men and women.
Extend existing explanations for gender differences in plans of pursuing STEM degrees and examine the role of the high school context.
1) What are the mechanisms through which high school opportunity structures link to student choice of STEM major and college destination? 2) To what extent and in what ways do high school opportunity structures differ in schools with a large upper/middle class White population versus a comprehensive urban school (with a STEM focus) with a high population of poor and working class students of color? 3) To what extent do the mechanisms through which the high school opportunity structures link to college major choice and college destination differ in the two schools under investigation?
The authors examine variation in college persistence according to the economic composition of high schools, which serves as a proxy for unmeasured high school attributes that are conductive to postsecondary success.
How do students of different ethnicity and gender groups differ in advanced mathematics course-taking and in STEM major choice? What student and school factors can explain these differences? How does high school advanced mathematics course-taking account for disparities in STEM major choice?
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?