– Students with relatively greater non-STEM ability are more likely to switch out of STEM.
– Black and Hispanic students are more likely to persist in STEM after ability is taken into account.
– The authors find evidence of switching behavior that appears motivated by a preference for
graduation within four years.
– Students with relatively higher non-STEM ability are more likely to graduate because they are more likely to switch to a non-STEM major.
– Minority students have a stronger preference for STEM majors relative to non-STEM majors.
– Conditional on being admitted as a STEM major, minority students are less likely to graduate with a non-STEM major and more likely to not complete any major within four years.
– Minority students are less likely to leave STEM.
– Controlling for unobserved ability significantly reduces but does not completely eliminate the STEM graduation gap between minority and non-minority students.
– Household income influences both a student’s budget constraint during college as well as their relative preferences for graduating as a STEM major versus other majors.
– With more time to complete their major, there is a smaller gap in major retention between minority
and non-minority students.
– Engineering in particular has very high retention rates for all students.
– Black and Hispanic students are more likely to persist in STEM after ability is taken into account. Authors also ?nd evidence of switching behavior that appears motivated by a preference for graduation within four years.