Pushed Out: Long-Term Career Pursuit Trajectories for Underrepresented Students in STEM

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Race and Gender in Professions Education (Table 6)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which motivational and persistence factors predict the occupational career choices of underrepresented students in their pursuit of a STEM career. Data were selected from the High School Longitudinal Study in a multinomial logistic regression. Anticipated STEM occupation at the age of 30 was examined across eight years of survey data using a long-term taxonometric definition of STEM. Social Cognitive Career Theory provided the theoretical framework for defining factors affecting this pursuit construct. The findings suggest that long-term expected STEM career outlooks are multithreaded, guided by a grade-defining set of predictors. Female students, as a result, are often “pushed out” of traditional STEM careers and into more clinical occupations.

Author

• Doug Havard, Chapman University
  Presenting Author