2009 - Student Characteristics, Pre-College, College, and Environmental Factors as Predictors of Majoring In and Earning a STEM Degree: An Analysis of Students Attending a Hispanic Serving Institution

Attribution: Crisp, Gloria, Nora, Amaury, & Taggart, Amanda
Researchers: Amanda TaggartAmaury NoraGloria Crisp
University Affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio
Email: gloria.crisp@usa.edu
Research Question:
1) Are there significant differences/relationships between the characteristics of Hispanic and White students in STEM majors at a Hispanic Serving Institution? 2) What factors predict students' decisions to declare a major in STEM? 3) What factors predict students' decisions to change majors from non-STEM to STEM? 4) What factors predict STEM degree attainment?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: American Educational Research Journal
Journal Entry: Vol. 46, No. 4, Pp. 924-942
Year: 2009
Findings:
  1. Hispanic students’ high school percentiles were found to be significantly higher than that of White students. However, this was not found between Hispanic and White STEM majors.
  2. The likelihood of declaring a STEM major was uniquely influenced by students’ gender, ethnicity, SAT math score, and high school percentile.
  3. The odds of declaring a major in STEM were 1.37 times as large for Hispanic students and 1.93 times as large for Asian students when compared to White students.
  4. The likelihood of changing from a non-STEM to STEM major was found to be related to students’ gender, ethnicity, SAT math score, and enrollment in Biology I or higher.
  5. The likelihood of earning a STEM degree was uniquely associated with students’ gender, ethnicity, SAT math score, high school percentile, first-semester GPA, enrollment in Biology I or higher, and enrollment in Algebra I or higher during the first semester of college.
  6. The odds of earning a STEM degree were 2.48 times larger for Asian American students when compared to white students.
  7. Enrollment status and Pell grant support were not found to influence students’ decision to major or persist in STEM.
  8. Transferring from another institution and parental education did not impact students to select or persist in a STEM major.
  9. Earning a STEM degree is related to students’ first semester GPA and enrollment in mathematics and science “gatekeeper” courses.
  10. Hispanic Serving Institutions may be an important point of access for students in STEM fields and may also provide opportunity more equitable outcomes for Hispanic students.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: Hispanic EducationHispanic Serving InstitutionPostsecondary EducationSTEM MajorStudent AttitudeStudent BehaviorRegions: SouthMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: Descriptive StatisticsLogistic Regression Sampling Frame:Graduating Students
Sampling Types: Non-RandomNonrandomAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • The Student/ Institution model, which is what this paper utilizes, theorizes that students’ interaction between themselves and their chosen major is influenced by several student characteristics, behaviors, and experiences, which in turn produces a connection, or engagement, between the student and his or her institution that leads to persistence and degree attainment. More specifically, students are said to bring pre-college characteristics to college, such as high school experiences and prior academic achievement that influence their college experiences and subsequent connection to the institution and chosen degree.
  • 1,925 students who graduated from a HSI between 2006 and 2008. This sample was out of 2,515 total graduates. 928 were Hispanic students, 774 were White students, 198 were Hispanic STEM majors, and 151 were White STEM majors. It should be noted that the sample was limited to undergraduate students at a single HSI.
  • Three dependent variables were examined: (a) declaring a STEM major versus declaring a non-STEM major, (b) declaring a non-STEM major and changing majors to STEM versus persisting in a non-STEM major, and (c) earning a degree in STEM versus earning a non-STEM degree.
  • Three demographic variables were included in the first block of the model: students’ gender, ethnicity, and whether one or more of the students’ parents earned a college degree. Next, several pre- college variables were added to the model. Pre-college variables were assessed using a student’s SAT math score, high school percentile, and whether the student transferred to the HSI from another institution. The third set of predictor variables centered on environmental “pull” variables, which included enrollment status during the first semester (as a measure of integration into college life) and whether students received a Pell grant to finance their education (as a measure of financial attitudes). Finally, students’ college variables were measured using first-semester GPA and whether students enrolled in a developmental course, enrolled in Algebra I or higher, or enrolled in Biology I or higher in their first semester at the institution.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:Factors related to STEM Readiness
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts