2011 - Indicators of Success in STEM Majors: A Cohort Study

Attribution: Thompson, Ruthanne, & Bolin, Greta
Researchers: Greta BolinRuthanne Thompson
University Affiliation: University of North Texas
Email: ruthanne.thompson@unt.edu
Research Question:
If there were factors attributed to STEM students who graduated that might serve as predictors or indicators of successful navigation in STEM majors?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Journal of College Admission
Journal Entry: Vol. 212, Pp. 18-24
Year: 2011
Findings:
  1. The graduation rate for those students starting out as STEM majors was 17 percent compared to Business at 30 percent and Education at 22 percent.
  2. In terms of switching majors, 15 percent of Business students switched compared to 27 percent for STEM majors.
  3. There was no association among dropping or switching and a person’s ethnicity and county of origin.
  4. High school ranking is consistent with predicting matriculation at least for the three majors in this study.
  5. The highest numbers of students drop out, from all three subjects, in the first year with significantly less in the second and third years; a somewhat slow but stable rate for the fourth, fifth and sixth years and then a significant increase in drops in year seven.
  6. The biggest difference between the three majors is the switch rate. In Business, more students graduated than switched in years four and five; for STEM, more students switched majors in years four and five rather than graduated.
  7. Of the STEM students who switched majors, the largest group was the top 25 percent in year four; and the largest percentage of switches came from the next 15 percent and the second quarter students in year five.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: Academic AchievementCollege Major ChoiceDropoutsRetentionSTEMRegions: SouthMethodologies: QuantitativeAnalysis Methods: Chi Squared TestsDescriptive Statistics Sampling Frame:STEM and Business Students
Sampling Types: Non-Random - PurposiveAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • This study was conducted at a large Texas public institution with more than 28,000 undergraduate students enrolled as of Fall 2009. The study follows a ‘New From High School’ group of students who enrolled at this university in Fall 2003. Enrollment for Full-Time Freshman (FTF) new from high school in 2003 was less than the original 3,618 as 79 New From High School students entered as sophomores and eight entered as juniors and so were excluded from the study. The total FTF enrollment for Fall 2003 was 3,531.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts