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Racial and Ethnic Heterogeneity in the Effect of MESA on AP STEM Coursework and College STEM Major Aspirations

-MESA participation increases students’ odds of taking AP STEM courses in high school and their aspirations for declaring a STEM major in college.
– These effects are driven primarily by black and white students, respectively.
– Latino and Asian students remain largely unaffected by MESA partiipation.
– MESA may improve black students’ high school STEM engagement but may have little impact on black and Latino students’ STEM outcomes in college.

The Role of High School Racial Composition and Opportunities to Learn in Students' STEM College Participation

1) Do the rates of STEM declaration and graduation vary between high schools?
2) Do opportunities to learn science and mathematics vary depending on high schools’ racial composition? 3) What is the relationship between high school racial composition, opportunities to learn available at high schools, and students’ STEM participation in college? 4) Do these relationships vary by racial/ethnic groups?

School-based Teacher Hiring and Achievement Inequality: A Comparative Perspective

– School-based hiring is associated with a larger gap in the distribution of teacher quality between advantaged and disadvantaged schools.
– There is an association between school-based hiring and inequality of achievement based on socioeconomic status of students.
– School-based hiring may contribute to exacerbating inequality in learning opportunities and increasing family background’s positive effect on achievement.
– ESCS (a proxy of family SES) is positively associated with student performance in mathematics and science.
– School-based hiring is not associated with student performance on average, but school-based hiring is associated with the larger achievement gap between high- and low-SES students.
– More school autonomy in hiring was associated with a larger gap in the distribution of teacher quality across schools as well as larger socioeconomic achievement inequality.
– School-level mean SES has a positive and significant relationship with math and science achievement.

Gender Gaps in Math Performance, Perceived Mathematical Ability and College STEM Education: The Role of Parental Occupation

– All three factors, math achievement, perceived math ability, and parental occupation in a science field, are found to be significant predictors of the probability of majoring in science in college.
– Having a parent working in a science related field is associated with a better performance in math but not necessarily higher levels of perceived math ability, given math performance.
– Most of the observed positive effects of having a parent in a science related occupation seem to be concentrated among females.
– Estimated effects of higher levels of math achievement are about double for boys than for girls. Estimates of perceived math ability are also slightly larger for boys.

Stratifying science: A Bourdieusian analysis of student views and experiences of school selective practices in relation to ‘Triple Science’ at KS4 in England

How do young people experience and construct their ‘choice’ (or not) of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) science route? And what are the identity and other implications (for social justice and widening participation in science) associated with participation on Double or Triple award routes for different groups of students?

Student and School SES, Gender, Strategy Use, and Achievement

– Schools, as opposed to families, may be the primary vehicle for developing effective strategy use practices for students and thus,
targeted interventions may be particularly useful for male students
attending low SES schools.
– One learning strategy (i.e., control strategies) was found to relate significantly and positively to achievement.
– These strategies were used more by females and students attending higher SES schools.
– Males and students attending lower SES schools tended to use a greater number of learning strategies that did not relate to achievement, including memorization and elaboration.
– Strategies that did not relate to achievement were used more
frequently by students from higher SES families.

Venus, Mars, and Math: Gender, Societal Affluence, and Eighth Graders' Aspirations for STEM

To assess the relationship between societal affluence and the gender gap in STEM aspirations.

Science Engagement and Science Achievement in the Context of Science Instruction: A Multilevel Analysis of U.S. Students and Schools

– All aspects of science engagement were statistically significantly and positively related to science achievement, and nearly all showed medium or large effect sizes.
– Each aspect was positively associated with one of the four practices (strategies) of science teaching.
– Focus on applications or models was positively related to the most aspects of science engagement (science self-concept, enjoyment of science, instrumental motivation for science, general value of science, and personal value of science).
– Hands-on activities were positively related to additional aspects of science engagement (science self-efficacy and general interest in learning science) and also showed a positive relationship with science achievement.
– School mean SES has a positive and significant effect on students’ future motivation in science and on science achievement.

The Roots of STEM Achievement: An Analysis of Persistence and Attainment in STEM Majors

1. What factors predict that incoming STEM majors who graduate will attain a STEM degree?
2. What elements affect incoming STEM majors’ persistence in college?
3. What variables influence non-STEM majors who graduate college to switch to and attain a degree in a STEM field?
4. What factors motivate undecided majors to declare and graduate with a STEM degree?

State Affirmative Action Bans and STEM Degree Completions

Investigates the effect of affirmative action bans on aggregate STEM degree completion across the US. Banning affirmative action may do more than shift minority students pursuing STEM from more selective colleges to less selective colleges. Minority students may also switch majors while
enrolling in the same institution, as well as attend community colleges or pursue other career
options.

Using an opportunity-propensity framework to estimate individual-, classroom-, and school-level predictors of middle school science achievement

When a more comprehensive set of opportunity and propensity variables are used in a SEM to predict eighth-grade science achievement, what are the relative magnitudes of the associations measured in the model, and which opportunity and propensity variables have the strongest relationships to the science achievement outcome?

Women in Technology: College Experiences that are Correlated with Long-term Career Success

The purpose of this study is to identify key college experiences that are correlated with long-term success for female technologists. Research questions include whether long-term career success is more likely for female technology graduates who, during their undergraduate studies, (1) personally interacted with professional and academic role models, (2) were able to apply their classroom learning to real world problems, and (3) actively participated in campus life.

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?

Why does teacher gender matter?

– High school math and science teacher gender affects student interest and self-efficacy in STEM. However, such effects become insignificant once teacher behaviors and attitudes are taken into account, thus pointing towards an omitted variables bias.
– Teacher beliefs about male and female ability in math and science – as well as how teachers treat boys and girls in the classroom – matter more than teacher’s own gender.
-Creating a positive learning environment and making math and science interesting are pivotal in engaging students in these subjects.
– Student interest and self-efficacy are substantially affected by teacher ability to make their subject interesting and to create a positive learning environment.
– Rather than hiring more female teachers or segregating students by gender, training teachers ( increasing empathy and reducing gender biases) could be more effective in increasing student self-efficacy and interest in STEM.
– What matters primarily in this context are not the role models played by teachers (or the stereotype threats), but the time and skills that instructors put in preparing their lectures and supporting their students.

A Path Analysis of Student Interest in STEM, with Specific Reference to Qatari Students

(1) What factors influence students’ interest in STEM fields of study or work? (2) Are there any significant differences in students’ responses with respect to their gender? (3) Are there any significant differences in students’ responses with respect to their grade level?

STEM Pathways: Examining Persistence in Rigorous Math and Science Course Taking

What proportion of the STEM-interested students enroll in STEM-related career academies? Are there differences in course taking patterns among STEM-interested students who do or do not enroll in such academies? How do the course taking patterns of STEM-interested students in Florida compare with other students in the USA?

Mind the Gap: Student Researchers Use Secondary Data to Explore Disparities in STEM Education

1) How do students’ math and science self-efficacies relate to students’ post-secondary education plans? Are there differences by gender? 2) Is gender or race related to students’ taking of computer science courses? In the student’s choice of a computer science career? 3) Do students with individualized education plans (IEPs) differ from general education students in their expectations to obtain a degree post high school? Of the students that have an IEP, are there differences in their expectations for post-secondary plans by socioeconomic status? 4) Does participating in extracurricular activities (EA) have an effect on a student’s plans to attend college? Does SES status affect the relationship between participation and educational plans?

STEM Field Persistence: The Impact of Engagement on Postsecondary STEM Persistence for Underrepresented Minority Students

1) Do the BPS:04/09 data support that underrepresented minority students leave STEM fields? 2) Does the BPS:04/09 demonstrate differential engagement for underrepresented minority students in STEM fields? 3) Do the differing engagement behaviors contribute to STEM attrition of underrepresented minorities?

Exposure to School and Classroom Racial Segregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg High Schools and Students' College Achievement

1) Do the effects of school racial segregation extend into early college outcomes among students graduating from CMS schools and entering the UNC system? 2) Is minority representation in the upper-track classes related to students’ first year college achievement? 3) Do the levels of within-school segregation due to tracking exacerbate the negative effects of attending a segregated black high school?

The Role of STEM High Schools in Reducing Gaps in Science and Mathematics Coursetaking: Evidence from North Carolina

The authors examined whether underserved students in North Carolina STEM high schools have similar or higher rates of advanced science and mathematics course taking than students in neighboring traditional high schools.

Aligning Science Achievement and STEM Expectations for College Success: A Comparative Study of Curricular Standardization

This paper examines student science
achievement in the precollege years, focusing
on students who indicate they plan to major
in science or pursue a science career. It compares the United States with other industrialized countries in terms of science achievement and determines the degree to which crossnational variations in standardization of the curriculum are related to science achievement, net of other country-level factors such as teacher quality and economic development. The authors then examine cross-national variations in students’
future orientations toward STEM to determine
whether curricular standardization is related
to the alignment of students’ science achievement with their plans to pursue a STEM major or career

Does Postsecondary Persistence in STEM Vary by Gender?

Does persistence within STEM majors differ by gender?

School Climate and Dropping Out of School in the Era of Accountability

– Their findings indicate that attending a high school with better disciplinary order and stronger school attachment for the students is associated with a decreased likelihood of dropping out, above and beyond individual characteristics.

-They found that higher school SES translated to better school attachment, disciplinary order, and academic climate. Yet, disciplinary climate was the most positively influenced by school SES, with a one standard deviation (SD) increase in school SES being associated with about half a unit increase in disciplinary climate.

-The percentage of minority students was inversely related to school attachment, controlling for model variables.

-There is an indirect effect of school composition on dropping out. The larger the percentage of minority students the less attached they feel to their school so they are more likely to drop out.

– The researchers found that attending a high school with better school attachment greatly reduced the odds of a student being a dropout.

-Attending a school with more disciplinary order also directly de- creased the likelihood that a student was currently identified as a dropout.

-They also found that both prior math achievement and student SES were again strong predictors of whether a student had ever dropped out.

What Matters in Increasing Community College Students' Upward Transfer to the Baccalaureate Degree: Findings from the Beginning Postsecondary Study 2003-2009

1) What is the relative impact of community college students’ choice of program of study, academic and social participation in college, academic performance in college, external demands, and background characteristics upon their rates of transfer to 4-year institutions? 2) Which institutional characteristics of community colleges help explain differences in individual probability of transfer after considering student-level characteristics? 3) Which state characteristics and state-level articulation and transfer policies help explain differences in upward transfer probability among students entering public 2-year colleges, after controlling for influential student and college characteristics?

Examination of Factors that Predict Academic Adjustment and Success of Community College Transfer Students in STEM at 4-Year Institutions

1) What background characteristics, community college experiences, and university experiences predict academic adjustment for community college transfer students in engineering and other STEM (nonengineering) disciplines? 2) What background characteristics, community college experiences, and university experiences predict cumulative GPA for community college transfer students in engineering and other STEM (nonengineering) disciplines?

STEM-Focused High Schools as a Strategy for Enhancing Readiness for Postsecondary STEM Programs

1) To what extent do students attending inclusive STEM high schools experience more advanced STEM courses, engaging STEM teaching, real-world STEM experiences, and supports for succeeding in STEM courses and applying to college than do students attending other high schools? 2) To what extent do ISHS students’ STEM interests, activities, achievement, and expectations differ from those of demographically similar students attending high schools without a STEM focus? 3) How are the features promoted for inclusive STEM high schools related to student STEM outcomes?

Science Achievement Gaps Begin Very Early, Persist, and Are Largely Explained by Modifiable Factors

  1. How large are general knowledge gaps occurring in kindergarten, and to what extent do these continue to occur by the end of first grade?
  2. As children move from third to eighth grade, what is their typical initial level (i.e., intercept) and rate of achievement growth (i.e., slope) in science?
  3. Are these gaps consistent with stable, cumulative (i.e., gap increasing), or compensatory (i.e., gap decreasing) achievement growth trajectories? How do these initial third-grade science achievement levels and third- to eighth-grade growth trajectories vary by children’s race, ethnicity, language, and family SES status? How are a more general set of child- and family-level characteristics, including parenting quality, related to typical levels of third-grade science achievement in the United States as well as to achievement growth from third to eighth grade?
  4. To what extent are the third-grade science achievement gaps, as well as third- to eighth-grade science achievement growth, explained by such modifiable factors as general knowledge, reading and mathematics achievement, and behavioral self-regulation? How much of children’s later science achievement can be predicted by their first-grade achievement-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors?
  5. With the aforementioned first-grade predictive factors accounted for, how important are the modifiable factors of children’s subsequent reading and mathematics achievement, and behavioral self-regulation at each of third, fifth, and eighth grades to their science achievement during these grades?
  6. To what extent does a school’s academic climate and racial, ethnic, and economic composition explain children’s science achievement, over and above the afore- mentioned child- and family-level factors?

Do Foreigners Crowd Natives out of STEM Degrees and Occupations? Evidence from the U.S. Immigration Act of 1990

Examine the effects of the U.S. Immigration Act of 1990 on STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics) degree completion and labor market outcomes
for native-born Americans.

Do They Stay or Do They Go? The Switching Decisions of Individuals Who Enter Gender Atypical College Majors

The authors explore whether women who enter fields that are male-dominated are more likely to switch fields than their female peers who have chosen other fields, as well as whether men who enter female-dominated majors are more likely to subsequently switch fields than their male peers who have chosen a more normative field.

Teacher Characteristics, Student Beliefs and the Gender Gap in STEM Fields

To examine the impact of teachers’ gender, beliefs and behaviors on students’ beliefs about boys’ and girls’ abilities in math and science.

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?

School Vouchers and Student Neighborhoods: Evidence from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

1) Do voucher schools disproportionately draw students from better public schools and city neighborhoods, or do they draw students most in need of alternative options? 2) Are public schools attended by students in neighborhoods contributing large numbers of students to the voucher program more or less effective than those attended by students in neighborhoods with fewer voucher students? 3) Are voucher students located in city neighborhoods that directly contribute more or less to student outcomes? 4) What are the school and neighborhood contexts of students returning to the public sector?

Black STEM Students and the Opportunity Structure

What pre-college characteristics, college experiences, and college environments significantly influence Black students’ participation within the STEM opportunity structure, compared to their White counterparts?

The concentration of Asian Americans in STEM and health-care occupations: an intergenerational comparison

This article examines the concentration of Asian Americans in the STEM and health-care fields of study and occupations by generation, ethnic group and gender, compared to white Americans.

Gender Differences in Conceptualizations of STEM Career Interest: Complementary Perspectives from Data Mining, Multivariate Data Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling

To extract new information about differences in male versus female conceptual frameworks of STEM career interest in middle school.

Impacts of Intersection Between Social Capital and Finances on Community College Students' Pursuit of STEM Degrees

1) How can the constructs of social/cultural capital and financial constraints be measured? 2) How do the intersection of social capital and financial constraints impact community college students’ pursuit of STEM degrees through transfer? 3) Identify the factors related to social and cultural capital, finances, and external factors that pull students away from their studies.

An Investigation of the Linkage Between Technology-Based Activities and STEM Major Selection in 4-Year Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling

1) To what extent do technology-based activities affect students’ selections of STEM majors in 4-year postsecondary institutions at the student level, taking into account math performance, gender, racial/ethnic background, and socioeconomic status (SES)? 2) To what extent do technology-based activities and technology-based school environment affect students ‘selections of STEM majors in 4-year postsecondary institutions at the school level, taking into account math performance, gender, racial/ethnic background, and SES?

Determining the Effects of Computer Science Education at the Secondary Level on STEM Major Choices in Postsecondary Institutions in the United States

1) To what extent does taking more units in computer science courses predict students’ STEM major choices in 4-year post-secondary institutions, controlling for credits earned in math and science, ACT math scores, gender, social economic status (SES), and racial background? 2) To what extent does taking more units in computer science courses predict students’ STEM major choices in 2-year post-secondary institutions, controlling for credits earned in math and science, ACT math scores, gender, SES, and racial background? 3) To what extent does taking more units in computer science courses lead to a significant difference in students’ major choices between4-year and 2-year post-secondary institutions, controlling for credits earned in math and science, ACT math scores, gender, SES, and racial background?

The Role of School Performance in Narrowing Gender Gaps in the Formation of STEM Aspirations: A Cross-National Study

To determine whether the school context is related to the gender gap in STEM aspirations cross-culturally.

Perceived Mathematical Ability under Challenge: A Longitudinal Perspective on Sex Segregation among STEM Degree Fields

1) To what degree do domain-specific and domain-general perceptions of ability under challenge differ by gender? 2) What is the relationship between perceived ability under challenge in mathematics and advanced high school science course enrollment? 3) To what extent does perceived ability under challenge in mathematics predict staying in a STEM field as intended before entering postsecondary education? How is this relationship moderated by gender? 4) What is the relationship between perceived ability under challenge in mathematics and selection of mathematics-intensive science majors (physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science(PEMC), and how is that relationship moderated by gender?

Classroom-Based Inequalities and Achievement Gaps in the First Grade: The Role of Classroom Context and Access to Qualified and Effective Teachers

    1) What are the magnitudes of URM (underrepresented minorities) achievement gaps in reading and math at the beginning of first grade, and to what degree do they change during first grade?

    2) Do student inputs vary across classrooms and schools? What are the magnitudes of school based achievement gaps that develop in the first grade? Do URM have equitable access to classrooms with contextual characteristics conducive to learning? Highly qualified teachers and effective teachers?

    3) And if not what degree does each contribute to the achievement gaps that accumulate during the first grade?

High School Socioeconomic Composition and College Choice: Multilevel Mediation Via Organizational Habitus, School, Practices, Peer and Staff Attitudes

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?