– Females and underrepresented minorities were less likely to pursue computer science courses and computer science careers.
– Students’ expectations for post-secondary education differed by IEP status and socioeconomic status.
– Time spent in extracurricular activities impacted academic achievement and students in lower socioeconomic groups were less involved in extracurricular activities.
– Time spent in EAs is associated with higher rates of planning to pursue advanced degrees.
– The findings show a clear disparity in educational expectations for student with disabilities. Students with an IEP do not have as high of expectation for themselves in post secondary education. Further, students with an IEP in lower SES groups had even lower expectations than those in the higher SES groups.
2016 - Mind the Gap: Student Researchers Use Secondary Data to Explore Disparities in STEM Education
High School Longitudinal Study 2009. This dataset is representative of US ninth graders in 2009 (n= 21,444 from 944 schools).
Self-efficacy measures were scale scores using four survey items, which asked about students’ confidence in their ability to master skills, successfully complete assignments, understand textbooks and do well on tests in either math or science. Student educational expectations were obtained from a survey item asking students to report how far in school he or she thinks they will go in school.
SES was measured by highest education among parents, education level of the other parent (if applicable), highest occupational prestige score of parent, occupation prestige of the other parent (if applicable), and the family income. To better examine differences in the expectations of students who had an IEP based on socioeconomic status, these SES quintiles were collapsed into three groups; low, middle, and high.
Involvement in EAs was measured by NCES as the amount of time spent in EAs. Other IVs were race, gender, and if the student had a disability.
DV: Whether students planned on a having a Computer Science major.