Longitudinal STEMM Trajectories of Rural Females

• In Event: 26.080 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 26.080-7 - Education and Careers in Rural Context

Abstract

We used existing data from the Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002 (ELS:2002) (N=15,370) to analyze the factors that impacted whether students’ educational trajectories resulted in a college major and/or career in the field of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine (STEMM) by locale (i.e., rural, urban, suburban). Descriptive analyses were conducted to map students’ trajectories from high school graduation to college majors and/or careers in STEMM fields. Multilevel logistic regression models will be used to determine the impact of various school and student-level factors on STEMM participation. Initial descriptive results indicated that while similar percentages of participants selected STEMM majors across locales, rural females overwhelmingly chose medical majors and careers over ones in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

Authors

• Lesley F. Leach, Tarleton State University

• Liza Benedict, Tarleton State University