Griffith, Amanda L.
Researchers: Amanda L. Griffith
University Affiliation: Wake Forest University
Email: griffial@wfu.edu
Research Question:
Which factors contribute to persistence of all students in STEM field majors, and in particular the persistence of women and minorities?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Economics of Education Review
Journal Entry: Vol. 29, Pp. 911-922
Year: 2010
Findings:
- Although descriptive statistics show that a smaller percentage of women and minorities persist in a STEM field major as compared to male and non-minority students, regression analysis shows that differences in preparation and the educational experiences of these students explains much of the differences in persistence rates.
- Students at selective institutions with a large graduate to undergraduate student ratio and that devote a significant amount of spending to research have lower rates of persistence in STEM fields.
- A higher percentage of female and minority STEM field graduate students positively impacts on the persistence of female and minority students.
- There is little evidence that having a larger percentage of STEM field faculty members that are female increases the likelihood of persistence for women in STEM major.
- The racial composition of the students in the department seems to have no significant effect on the persistence decisions of minority students.
- Students in all four groups are more likely to remain in a STEM field major as the ratio of their grades earned in STEM courses to grades earned in non-STEM courses increases.
- All four groups are more likely to remain in a STEM field major at institutions with more undergraduate relative to graduate students, as well as at institutions with no graduate programs at all.
- After controlling for background characteristics, female non-minority and all minority students are less likely to switch into STEM than male or minority students, respectively, in the NLSF sample, and all female students in the NELS:88 sample are less likely to switch.