Poster #34 - Examining STEM Graduate School Intentions in the Early Years of College

• In Event: 79.052 - MTCC Poster Session 19
  In Poster Session: 79.052-3 - Assessment and Outcomes Posters

Abstract

Guided by Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, this study of first- and second-year undergraduates in STEM majors examines the relationships between students’ intentions to attend graduate school and their attitudes (i.e., perceived cost of attaining a STEM degree; psychosocial cost of attaining a STEM degree), perceived behavioral control (i.e., mathematics confidence; mathematics enjoyment), and subjective norms (i.e., participation in one of two STEM intervention programs for either engineering or science majors). Logistic regression results indicate different attitude and perceived behavioral control variables as related to students’ STEM graduate school intentions, according to their participation in either the science or engineering group. Group differences also suggest the potential importance of subjective norms each program uniquely exerts through contextual and experiential components.

Authors

• Katie Shoemaker, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Trevion S. Henderson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Lisa R. Lattuca, University of Michigan

• Christina S. Morton, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Erika Mosyjowski, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Selyna Beverly, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor