Juan C Garibay Bryce E Hughes M Kevin Eagan Sylvia Hurtado UCLA Association for Institutional Research May 2013 Long Beach CA A National Imperative United States faces a critical shortage in its STEM workforce ID: 219548
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Slide1
Beyond the Bachelor’s: What Influences STEM Post-Baccalaureate Pathways
Juan C.
Garibay
, Bryce E. Hughes, M. Kevin Eagan, Sylvia
Hurtado
UCLA
Association for Institutional Research
May 2013, Long Beach, CASlide2
A National Imperative
United States faces a critical shortage in its STEM workforce
STEM degrees constitute small proportion of overall bachelor’s degrees awarded
PCAST has called for an additional one million STEM degrees over the next decade
Yet amount of people with STEM degrees far outnumbers STEM workforce
Much remains unknown about turning STEM degrees into STEM careersSlide3
Literature Review
STEM pathways continue to be shaped by background, especially race/ethnicity and gender
High school academic preparation is also key; more math and science are crucial
Institutional context matters—graduates of elite institutions attend elite graduate institutions and take jobs related to their majorsSlide4
Literature Review
Key STEM experiences are structured to improve the retention and persistence of students in STEM fields
Undergraduate research programs
STEM retention programs targeted to URM students
Major-related clubs and professional associations
Internships and cooperative experiences
Faculty support and mentoring
Little is known about how these experiences affect post-college STEM trajectoriesSlide5
Conceptual Framework
Career decision-making theory:
Harren
, 1979
Psychological factors associated with career decision-making
Emphasizes role of identity and background
Includes the role of developing purpose
Hodkinson
&
Sparkes
, 1997
Career decision-making is influenced by individual factors as well as social and cultural contexts
Opportunities are structured through accumulated capital and experiences, affecting a student’s available career alternativesSlide6
Purpose
The purpose of this study then is to identify the student and institutional factors that associate with post-college STEM pathways seven years after college entry.
Specifically:
Which experiences lead students into the STEM workforce compared to STEM graduate programs?
Which experiences divert STEM talent into non-STEM alternatives?Slide7
Methods: Data Source and Sample
Data sources:
2004 CIRP Freshman Survey
2011 Post-Baccalaureate Survey
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
Sample size:
7,331 STEM bachelor’s recipients who attended 471 institutions
Analysis
Descriptive statistics
Multinomial HGLMSlide8
Methods: Dependent variable
Status in terms of employment or matriculation into graduate school
Have enrolled in STEM graduate program
Are
e
mployed in STEM career (and have not enrolled in a graduate program)
Have departed from STEM pathway (non-STEM graduate program or career)Slide9
Methods: Independent Variables
Student-level:
Pre-college:
Demographic characteristics
Prior academic preparation
Educational and career aspirations
Pre-college experiences
During college:
Self-perceptions, aspirations, and goals
Undergraduate STEM-related experiences
Institution-level:
Selectivity, minority-serving institution, size, controlSlide10
Descriptive Statistics
Dependent Variable
Percent
Has Enrolled
in a STEM grad program
31.2
STEM workforce & no
grad school
31.3
Departure
from STEM pathway
37.4
Demographics
Gender: Female
48.7
American Indian
3.3
Asian/Pacific
Islander
12.2
Black
11.8
Latino/a
10.5
Other race
1.6
White
60.6Slide11
Findings: Enrollment in a STEM Grad Program vs. STEM workforce
Significant Predictors of STEM Grad Program
Sign
Background/Precollege
Characteristics
Socioeconomic
Status
+
Native English Speaker
--
HS
GPA
+
SAT score
+
Degree Aspirations:
Master’s (ref. other degree aspirations)
+
Degree Asp:
Health Prof. Degree (M.D., DVM, DOO, etc.)
+
Degree Asp: Ph.D./
Ed.D
.
+
Career Asp: Engineer (ref. all other careers)
--Slide12
Findings: Enrollment in a STEM Grad Program vs. STEM workforce
Significant Predictors of STEM Grad Program
Sign
Undergraduate Experiences
Undergrad Major:
Engineering (Ref. Bio Sciences)
--
Undergrad Major:
Health Professional (Ref. Bio Sciences)
--
Undergrad Major:
Math/Stats (Ref. Bio Sciences)
+
Undergrad Major:
Comp/Tech Sciences (Ref. Bio Sciences)
--
Work w/ faculty member on her/his research
+
Receive mentoring
from faculty member
+
Participate in academic club
or
prof
essional organization
+
Work off campus during academic year
--Slide13
Findings for Enrollment in a STEM Grad Program vs. Non-STEM Path
Significant Predictors of STEM Grad Program
Sign
Background/Precollege
Characteristics
Gender: Female
--
HS GPA
+
SAT score
+
Social Self-Concept
--
Degree Asp:
Health Prof. Degree (M.D., DVM, DOO, etc.)
+
Career Asp: Engineer (ref. all other careers)
+
Career Asp: Scientific
Researcher
(ref. all other careers)
+
Career Asp: Computer Programmer (ref.
all
other careers)
+
Career Asp: Health Prof. (ref. all other careers)
+
Goal: Becoming successful in a business of my own
--Slide14
Findings for Enrollment in a STEM Grad Program vs. Non-STEM Path
Significant Predictors of STEM Grad Program
Sign
Undergraduate Experiences
Undergrad
Major: Health Prof. (Ref. Bio Sciences)
+
Undergrad
Major: Math/Stats (Ref. Bio Sciences)
--
Undergrad
Major: Computer/Tech Sciences (Ref. Bio Sciences)
--
Work w/ faculty
member on her/his research
+
Receive
mentoring from faculty member
+
Participate in an academic club or org.
+
Work off campus
during the academic year
--
Institutional Characteristic
Control: Private
+Slide15
Discussion
Gender disparities in departure
Socioeconomic
differences
also salient
Students
from
higher
socioeconomic backgrounds
more
likely to
enter
STEM graduate training
as opposed to STEM workforce
Students who
worked off campus during the academic year were more likely to forego STEM graduate training and
go into the STEM workforce or into
non-STEM pathways
Prior academic preparation continues to influence post-baccalaureate decisionsSlide16
Discussion
Connections w/ faculty are critical in the decision to pursue a STEM graduate degree
Mentorship
Working on professor’s research
Informal networks like student clubs also exhibit a peer influence on post-baccalaureate decisions
Different STEM careers require different educational credentials for entry and thus different post-baccalaureate pathways
Institutional context did not play as significant a role as
expected
Data
limitations may have masked some of these
effects
May play an indirect role
May have conditional effectsSlide17
Implications
Retaining STEM talent in post-undergraduate years
Graduate admissions requirements and structures
Financial difficulties may be impeding the ability of many students to pursue their STEM
ambitions
Faculty are crucial in encouraging students to seek scientific research careers by providing opportunities to engage in research and insights into what a research career entails
STEM fields also have a diverse array of credential requirements for entry; further analysis by field can highlight the diversity of pathways into each fieldSlide18
Thank you!Slide19
Contact Us
This study was made possible by the support of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant Numbers 1 R01 GMO71968-01 and R01 GMO71968-05, the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant Number 0757076, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant 1RC1GM090776-01. This independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by the sponsors.
Papers and reports are available for download from project website:
http://heri.ucla.edu/nih
Project e-mail:
herinih@ucla.edu
Faculty/Co-PIs:
Sylvia
Hurtado
Mitchell
Chang
Kevin Eagan
Postdoctoral Scholars:
Josephine
Gasiewski
Administrative Staff:
Dominique Harrison
Tanya Figueroa
Gina
Garcia
Graduate Research Assistants:
Juan
Garibay
Bryce Hughes