STEM Majors, the Liberal Arts, and the Great Recession

• In Event: Postsecondary Transitions: College and Career Pathways

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of the Great Recession on the choice of college majors, drawing on data from the UCLA HERI Freshman Surveys and the American Society of Engineering Education. The Freshman Survey database enables us to identify changes well before the trends will appear in data on degree recipients. Since 2007, the fraction of students interested in STEM fields has shown a dramatic increase localized in two fields: engineering and biology. These findings are corroborated by enrollment data from engineering schools. This shift has not come at the expense of the liberal arts, but instead from applied fields including business and education. The implication of these findings for the recruitment of women into STEM fields is discussed.

Authors

• Jerry A. Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania

• Linda J. Sax, University of California - Los Angeles