2013 - Modeling Entrance into STEM Fields of Study Among Students Beginning at Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions

Attribution: Wang, Xueli
Researchers: Xueli Wang
University Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Email: Xwang273@wisc.edu
Research Question:
1) What factors contribute to students pursuing STEM degrees in community colleges and four-year colleges? 2) Are there different barriers that underrepresented groups in STEM face? 3) What is the relationship between STEM interests and math self-efficacy beliefs, high school exposure to math and science, and high school math achievement?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Research in Higher Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 54, No. 6, Pp. 664-692
Year: 2013
Findings:
  1. Math self efficacy beliefs, exposure to math and science course, and high school math achievement showed statistically significance on four-year beginners; interest in choosing a STEM field of study, with math achievement exerting a marginally significant effect.
  2. Exposure to math and science seemed to have the most substantial effect, followed by math self efficacy beliefs and math achievement.
  3. Students’ interest in STEM fields had the strongest influence on their actual choice of a STEM field.
  4. Receiving financial aid had a significant effect on four year beginners in STEM major at a four-year institution but it reported no effect on two-year beginners’ STEM entrance.
  5. STEM entrance was significantly and positively influenced by SES.
  6. STEM interest had the strongest association with students choosing to enter the STEM field.
  7. Students that were more academically integrated into 4 year colleges were more likely to enter the STEM field.
  8. The number of remedial subjects acts as a barrier to STEM entrance for both community colleges and four-year college students.
  9. Underrepresented racial minorities were as likely as White students to enter into the STEM field.
  10. This study reveals important heterogeneity in the effects of high school and postsecondary variables based on where students start their postsecondary education: community colleges or four-year institutions. For example, while high school exposure to math and science courses appears to be a strong influence on four-year beginners’ STEM interest, its impact on community college beginners’ STEM interest, albeit being positive, is much smaller.
  11. College academic integration and financial aid receipt exhibit differential effects on STEM entrance, accruing more to four-year college students and less to those starting at community colleges.
  12. Institutional contexts play an important role in STEM entrance.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: Choice of MajorCollege Major ChoiceCommunity CollegeCommunity College StudentsSelf-EfficacySTEM EducationRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Descriptive StatisticsStructural Equation Modeling Sampling Frame:High School to College Students
Sampling Types: Nationally RepresentativeAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • his study incorporates the core constructs of Social Career Cognitive Theory (SCCT): self-efficacy, interest and goals, contextual supports and barriers, person inputs, and choice actions related to STEM areas of study. Additionally, learning experiences in high school and college readiness are added to the model. In summary, the model hypothesizes that students’ self-efficacy and learning experiences during high school affect their interest and goals in terms of choosing a STEM major as well as their college readiness, which in turn influence their actual choice of STEM disciplines. STEM choice is also subject to contextual supports and barriers as well as person inputs.
  • Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Based on data from 9,770 students that graduated from high school and went to either a community college or four-year college.
  • The key dependent variable, STEM choice, was a dichotomous variable recoded from the survey item indicating respondents’ major field of study during the second follow-up in 2006. This variable was coded one if a student had declared a major field of study in a STEM discipline and zero otherwise. The main mediating variables in the model included students’ interest in choosing a STEM field of study and their perceived math and science readiness for college. STEM interest was measured by whether students thought of a STEM discipline as the most likely field of study to pursue when entering college. Math readiness for college and science readiness for college were each measured by a 3-point scale indicating students’ perceived adequacy of their high school math and science for college-level work.
  • In terms of the high school level independent variables, math self-efficacy was measured by five Likert-type items regarding high school seniors’ self-efficacy beliefs in taking math tests, mastering math skills, and completing math assignments. Learning experiences in the conceptual model were represented by two high school independent variables: exposure to math and science courses, measured by the total number of units in mathematics and science technologies during high school, and high school math achievement, measured by the standardized math test score a student received during the first follow-up.
  • Postsecondary contextual supports and barriers were operationalized by the following: academic integration, receipt of financial aid, number of remedial subjects, and external demands. Person inputs included demographic variables such as gender, race/ethnicity, SES, as well as graduate degree expectations.
  • Three latent variables were measured in this study:(a) math self-efficacy; (b) exposure to math and science courses in high school; and (c) academic integration in college.
  • Although sometimes referred to as ”causal modeling,” SEM still explores correlations instead of causal relationships. Therefore, the findings of this study do not imply causal explanations.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:Links individual factors and its impacts on STEM.
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts