– In general, ‘‘antecedent” course-taking patterns that result in transfer in STEM as a ‘‘consequent” involve a combination of ‘‘likely transferable” STEM courses and math courses in the earlier terms of students’ community college attendance. In particular, it is intriguing to note that, among STEM transfer students, despite the inevitable math-learning path, math course-taking during the very first term does not appear to be the most frequent course-taking pattern. Instead, the most viable course-taking trajectories contributing to STEM transfer, by and large, feature a pattern that first introduces ‘‘likely transferable” STEM courses during the first term, followed by math exposure during the subsequent terms.
– Non-transfer students follow highly varied pathways, such that there are few common meaningful patterns that characterize their course-taking.
– “Likely transferable” STEM courses appears to be the most important factor affecting students’ transfer outcomes in STEM. Students who earned less ‘‘likely transferable” STEM credits (say, 12-24 credits), but took quite a few math courses and a good amount of STEM credits would also have an increased probability of transfer in STEM.
– Provided strong exposure to transferable STEM courses, women seem to only need a minimal amount of math credits in order to succeed in the STEM transfer pathway, and additional math beyond six credits does not add much to boost their chances of transferring in STEM.
– After accounting for course-taking patterns, the only outstanding demographic characteristics that may influence and intersect with course-taking patterns are gender and age.