Social Capital and Career Choice: Pathways to STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) Professions for Students From Noncollege Families

• In Event: Contextual Influences on the Career Development of Youth

Abstract

The literature on career choice has focused attention on school and curricular factors and on personality and motivational factors. Without diminishing the importance of those factors, it is useful to examine the pathways to a STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) profession for students from non-college families. Using data from the 23-year longitudinal record of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), this paper will use a two-group structural equation model to compare the relative importance of family, parent, school, teacher, and post-secondary education experiences of students from non-college families with students from college-educated families. The results show that the children from non-college homes begin with substantial disadvantages and the post-secondary educational experiences can narrow those disadvantages.

Authors

• Jon D. Miller, University of Michigan

• Linda G. Kimmel, University of Michigan