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Maybe Math? High School Students’ Confidence of Their Intended College Major
Fri, April 4, 4:05 to 6:05pm, Convention Center, Floor: Terrace Level, Terrace IIAbstract
Education programs and policies are working to increase the participation of women, students of color, low-income, and first-generation students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields; yet domestic talent, particularly from these groups, continues to be underutilized. Within STEM, postsecondary enrollment in the Mathematical Sciences has remained low in recent decades despite the fact that majoring in these fields prepares students to enter a wide variety of occupations and graduate programs following the completion of the undergraduate degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). According to the Higher Education Research Institute, the percentage of freshmen intending to major in Mathematics and Statistics has only increased slightly from 0.7% in 1995 to 0.9% in 2010 (HERI, 2011). In comparison, the percentage of freshmen who intended to major in any science and engineering field increased from 32.4% to 38.4% during the same time period. The increase in interest to major in the Mathematical Sciences has originated primarily from White and Asian men, whereas women, African American, and Latino student’s interest has remained steady over the same time period. Due to the low enrollment and completion rates of student in the Mathematical Sciences, there is much to be gained by researching students who express interest in these fields to understand not only their intentions but also their level of preparation, their educational and occupational goals, and their confidence in their future plans. Furthermore, by examining students’ pre-college interests, we can better understand their future plans at a time point when their academic preparation, interest, motivation, and confidence in these plans can be altered in an effort to broaden participation in the Mathematical Sciences at the postsecondary level.