2013 - Why Students Choose STEM Majors: Motivation, High School Learning, and Postsecondary Context of Support

Attribution: Wang, Xueli
Researchers: Xueli Wang
University Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Email: Xwang273@wisc.edu
Research Question:
1) What are the relationships among high school exposure to math and science, achievement and motivational attributes as related to math, intent to pursue STEM upon entry into postsecondary education, and entrance into STEM fields of study? 2) How are students' initial postsecondary education experiences, such as academic interaction, receipt of financial aid, and remediation, related to STEM entrance? 3) How do these relationships vary by race, gender, and SES?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: American Educational Research Journal
Journal Entry: Vol. 50, No. 5, Pp. 1081-1121
Year: 2013
Findings:
  1. Choosing a STEM major was positively associated with intent to major in STEM, academic integration, college readiness in math and science, receiving financial aid, and expecting to earn a graduate degree.
  2. Receiving remediation and being enrolled full-time did not show any influence on STEM entrance.
  3. Math achievement at the 12th grade was positively associated with intent to pursue STEM fields among White students and underrepresented minorities, but was null for Asian students.
  4. The effect of high school exposure to math and science on STEM intent was statistically significant and positive across all racial groups, but was the smallest among underrepresented minority students.
  5. The effect of 10th-grade math achievement on 12th-grade math self-efficacy was most substantial for underrepresented minorities, followed by White students and Asian students.
  6. Math self-efficacy has a strong indirect effect on STEM entrance.
  7. Financial aid and academic integration were positively linked with entering into the STEM field.
  8. Findings indicated heterogeneous effects of math achievement and exposure to math and science across racial groups, with their positive impact on STEM intent accruing most to White students and least to underrepresented minority students.
  9. High school exposure to math and science is significantly related to STEM intent.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: College Major ChoiceMultiple-group SEMSelf-EfficacySTEMSTEM EducationSTEM PreparationRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Descriptive StatisticsStructural Equation Modeling Sampling Frame:High School and College Students
Sampling Types: Nationally RepresentativeAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • The author uses Social Career Cognitive Theory (SCCT) as a framework for this research. Using this model, students’ intent to major in STEM is affected by their 12th-grade math achievement, exposure to math and science courses, as well as math self-efficacy beliefs, all of which are subject to the influence of prior achievement in and attitudes toward math. Students’ STEM intent in turn affects their actual choice of STEM fields of study. In addition, entrance into STEM fields also is directly influenced by post-secondary context of supports and barriers.
  • Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. This study focused on 6,300 students that graduated from high school in 2004 and enrolled in a four-year institution. Among these students, roughly 19.3% intended to major in STEM upon entering college while 80.7% were interested in other fields of study. 15.4% (out of all 6,300 4-year enrollees) declared a major in a STEM field by 2006, compared to 84.6% who chose other disciplines or had not declared a major. All analyses were weighted using the appropriate ELS panel weight. Final analytic sample size of about 5,650.
  • The dependent variable was entrance into STEM which was a dichotomously coded variable based on the survey item that asked respondents’ field of study during the 2006 ELS second follow-up interview. The focal mediating variable was intent to pursue a STEM field, measured by whether the most likely post-secondary field of study students considered upon post-secondary entry was in a STEM discipline.
  • Five variables at the secondary school level were included: (a) exposure to math and science courses, measured by the number of units in mathematics and science technologies that students took; (b) 12th-grade math achievement, measured by math standardized test scores at the 12th grade; (c) 12th grade math self-efficacy beliefs, measured by five items- each on a 4-point Likert scale- that represented students’ self-efficacy beliefs in areas such as taking math tests, mastering math skills, completing math assignments; (d) 10th-grade math achievement, measured by math standardized test scores at the 10th grade; and (e)10th-grade attitudes toward math, measured by three items- each on a 4-point Likert scale- that represented students’ perceived enjoyment and importance of math.
  • To provide a more comprehensive picture that went beyond course-taking and achievement, a latent variable at the college level was included that measured college readiness in math and science: the extent to which college students believed that their high school math and science courses prepared them for college-level work. Also included to represent post-secondary context of supports and barriers were: academic interaction, receipt of financial aid, enrollment intensity, graduate degree expectations, remediation, and external demands.
  • Academic interaction was measured by the frequency of interacting with faculty about academic matters, meeting with advisers about academic plans, and working on course-work at school libraries. Receipt of financial aid was a dichotomous variable based on students’ first-year aid status. Enrollment intensity was measured by a dichotomous variable indicating whether students’ college enrollment was full-time or not. Similarly, the variable measuring graduate degree expectations was dichotomous. Remediation included three dichotomous variables: whether students took remedial courses to improve reading, writing, and math skills. Representing external demands were (a) one dichotomous variable measuring whether students had dependent children and (b) a continuous variable measuring the average number of weekly hours students worked for pay.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:Links individual factors and its impacts on STEM.
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts