Educational Aspirations of Diverse Groups Among Undergraduate Statistics Majors

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Studying Effects on Students' Mathematics Aspirations and Course-Taking (Table 5)

Abstract

Understanding the educational aspirations of diverse groups among statistics majors provides insight into the discipline of statistics. This study utilizes multi-institution data from the 2019 and 2020 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore educational aspirations for statistics majors through comparisons to other major types as well as among gender and race/ethnicity in a sample of 225,892 seniors, including 521 majoring in statistics. Preliminary results from a series of chi-squared analyses suggest that while other STEM majors are more likely to aspire for doctoral or professional degrees, statistics majors are more likely to aspire for a master’s degree. However, among the statistics majors there were no significant differences in educational aspiration by gender and race/ethnicity.

Authors

• Julie A. Lorah, Clemson University

• Angie L. Miller, Indiana University