- Comparing female students from different racial/ethnic groups, the authors find no significant differences between the percentages of Black, Hispanic, and White women in STEM fields. Among male students, chi-square tests also reveal no statistically significant differences in the distribution of college majors by race/ethnicity. The data do indicate that the physical science and engineering fields are clearly dominated by men, but not, as might be expected, disproportionately by White men.
- Among 4-year college matriculants, minority students of both genders were less academically prepared on average than White males, with Black youth falling the farthest behind.
- White males exhibit the highest levels of confidence in their math ability in comparison with allother groups; yet their confidence is only slightly higher than that of Black and Hispanic males. In contrast, Black male students report the highest affect toward math of any group, including White males.
- After accounting for high school preparation, the odds of declaring a PS/E major are two times greater for Black males than for White males.
- Male Hispanic college matriculants remain as likely as White males to pursue physical science or engineering majors regardless of differences in attitudes and academic preparation.
- The odds of White women or Hispanic women declaring a physical science or engineering major versus a non-STEM major remain far below the odds of White men even after accounting for differences in attitudes and academic preparation.
- Once academic preparation is taken into account, the relative odds of Black females declaring a physical science or engineering major increase to just less than half that of White males.</li.
- The authors find virtually no evidence that math attitudes contribute to disparities in choice of a PS/E major.
- In contrast to PS/E fields, biological sciences draw relatively equitably from all groups.