2012 - Pathways to STEMM Professions for Students From Noncollege Homes

Attribution: Miller, Jon D., & Pearson Jr., Willie
Researchers: Jon D. MillerWillie Pearson Jr.
University Affiliation: University of Michigan; Georgia Institute of Technology
Email: jondmiller@umich.edu
Research Question:
This analysis focuses on differences in pathways to a science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) profession between households in which no parent has a baccalaureate and households in which at least one parent has a baccalaureate.
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Peabody Journal of Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 87, Pp. 114-132
Year: 2012
Findings:
  1. The children of non-college-educated parents were less likely to take algebra in Grade 8, take calculus in high school, and take calculus in college than were the children of college-educated parents.
  2. Students from college-educated households are twice as likely as students from noncollege households to score in the top quartile on standardized mathematics achievement tests.
  3. Students from college-educated households are also more than twice as likely to rank in the top tier of reading scores than are students from noncollege families.
  4. Each of these results reflects a combination of parental and school influences, and the differential is compounded by the tendency for children from college-educated families to attend better elementary and secondary schools than children from non-college-educated families.
  5. Young adults that grew up in noncollege families were less likely to enter postsecondary education; more likely to begin postsecondary education at a community college; less likely to earn a baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree; and less likely to become a STEMM professional.
  6. The modest differences in parent encouragement between college-educated households and non-college-educated households did not translate into significant differences in students’ attitudes toward math and science.
  7. Young adults from college educated families are 3 times more likely to have found employment as a STEMM professional than young adults from noncollege homes.
  8. There were no major structural differences in the pathways to a STEMM profession. All of the variables that were significant contributors for students from college-educated homes were also significant contributors for students from non-college-educated homes.
  9. The analysis reveals a clear pattern of cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: Academic AchievementEmploymentFirst-Generation College StudentsParental EducationSTEMRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Descriptive StatisticsStructural Equation Modeling Sampling Frame:STEMM Students
Sampling Types: Non-Random - PurposiveAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • The Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY). The LSAY tracked secondary students in 1987 and followed them till 1994. They conducted a follow-up over twenty years late in 2007. N= 3920.
  • The DVs:
    1. Enrolling in a STEMM field and being employed in a STEMM field 20 years after high school. Only those who obtained a BA are included in the model for being employed in a STEMM field.
    2. For the second DV, the authors added: (a) the number of undergraduate college calculus courses, (b) the number of undergraduate college science courses, (c) graduation with a STEMM major at the baccalaureate level, and (d) completion of a graduate or professional degree in a STEMM field.
  • The IVs:
  • (a) Student gender, (b) parent employment in a STEMM field, (c) parent college push, (d) parent math and science push, (e) home science learning resources, (f) student reading skills, (g) student algebra track, (h) teacher encouragement in mathematics, (i) teacher encouragement in science, (j) student attitudes toward mathematics, (k) student attitudes toward science, (l) student achievement score in mathematics, (m) student achievement score in science, (n) student completion of high school calculus, and (o) the presence or absence of student plans for a STEMM career.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:Factors Relating to STEM Readiness
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts