– Preliminary findings suggest that STEM majors with low levels of SES may be especially disadvantaged in college persistence.
– STEM majors with parents who have no college experience have an added disadvantage in terms of both switching majors and leaving college altogether versus persisting in their first major, and this remains net of controls for demographics, high school and college achievement, and college characteristics.
– STEM majors with parents whose highest degree is a high school degree or less have a higher probability of switching majors and leaving college altogether and a lower probability of persisting in their first major than their non-STEM counterparts.
– Students whose parents have no college experience are much less likely to persist in their first major than their counterparts whose parents have higher levels of education. This is true for both STEM and non-STEM majors, but the differences are more pronounced among STEM majors.
2013 - Socioeconomic Stratification in College STEM Persistence
This paper uses data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS: 04/09). The sample is limited to four-year college entrants who report a major in the first wave and have a valid transcript data, resulting in a sample of approximately 5,140 first-time college students.
DV: persistence in first major (categorical variable indicating whether the individual remained in their major reported in wave one versus switched majors or left college by the third wave, six
years after college entry)
IV: SES (parent education and family income), college major (STEM or non-STEM)
Individual level controls: high school achievement (highest math course taken, high school grades, and SAT scores), college GPA, academic and social integration (from BPS), employment (hours per week worked during first year of college enrollment), net cost of attendance (total cost of attending the institution, including tuition, room and board, books, and cost of living, minus all financial aid), whether the student received need-based aid, gender (male/female), race/ethnicity (White, Black, Latino, Asian, Other).
Institution level controls: selectivity (moderate, very, minimal, or open admission), size of major, school size, sector, region of country.