STEM Factories: School and Community Characteristics of High Schools Producing STEM College Graduates

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Exploring Ways to Engage Students in Science

Abstract

There is currently a significant focus on trying to determine what factors may lead to more students pursuing pathways toward STEM degrees and careers. In this analysis we coalesced data from many sources – census data, data on Indiana high schools and data on college student outcomes. We linked these data in a way that allow us to analyze how school and community characteristics may be associated with an individual’s higher education degree attainment. We were surprised at the result that smaller schools generally produced more STEM graduates than larger peer schools. Currently, we do not have a robust explanation for this, but will advance this work by testing some of our theories by the time of the conference.

Authors

• Adam V. Maltese, Indiana University

• Craig Dennis Hochbein, Lehigh University