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

  1. In terms of high school academics, a consistent pattern was revealed in which grade point averages, ACT scores, level and years of mathematics coursework, and level of science coursework were all significantly higher on average among 6-year STEM bachelor’s degree completers than among the full sample of 6-year bachelor’s degree completers or among the full sample of college enrollees.
  2. Students who completed a STEM degree within 6 years reported slightly lower cumulative GPA’s than the average among graduates in all fields but higher cumulative GPA’s than the average among all first time 2003 to 2004 college enrollees.
  3. Female students had significantly lower odds of declaring a STEM major in their first year of college.
  4. Net of all other variables in the model, Black students relative to non-underrepresented minority students (i.e., White and Asian students) were more likely to declare a STEM major early in their college experience, as were students having English as their second language.
  5. While the descriptive results show that Black students were underrepresented among STEM bachelor’s degree completers relative to the full sample of college enrollees, the predictive models show that, net of high school academic and other pre-college variables, Black students were more likely to select a STEM major in the first year of college than were traditional racial or ethnic groups.
  6. The majority of STEM graduates recognized and acted on their interest in a STEM education very early in their college experience.
  7. For students who enter college with a collection of background characteristics typically incongruent with majoring in a STEM field, it is critically important to foster interest in STEM fields during the first year of college.
  8. In terms of high school academics, every measure included in the model proved to be a significant predictor of declaring a STEM major. The highest level of mathematics taken exerted the largest effect on students’ likelihoods of selecting a STEM major, while the years of mathematics taken during high school had a smaller and opposite influence. Given the cumulative nature of mathematics content, it may be that simply counting years of math in high school, net of the highest level completed, captures those students who required additional work in lower levels of the math curriculum.
  9. Results highlight the lasting influence of high school academic achievement, the importance of declaring a STEM major early in a student’s college career, and disparate effects of academic performance and levels of social and academic integration.
  10. For some students (those who entered college in the middle STEM propensity category), receiving relatively low levels of grant aid (versus no grant aid) was a deterrent for STEM degree completion.
  11. Students’ initial propensities toward STEM careers appear to moderate the influence of grant aid on STEM degree completion, though the relationships are relatively weak.
  12. The findings suggest that students who initially may not be oriented toward STEM fields upon entering college may particularly benefit from receiving information on and encouragement toward STEM programs of study during their first year of college.