Factors Associated with Persistence in STEMM: The Case of Undergraduate Women in Ethiopian Universities

• In Event: AER Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Issues in Contemporary Education Across Nations

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study is to describe the attributes of women who studied undergraduate science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) at public universities in Ethiopia. A total of 202 women responded to a 50-item survey in 2017-2018. Multiple regression modeling showed that undergraduate GPAs were predicted by their match with the first-choice major. The correlation coefficient between “First Choice Major” and GPA was 0.268, with a p-value of < .05, confirming a statistically significant relationship. Based on these results, we recommend that education leaders reconsider the existing system of academic tracking, in which the government sorts students into specific undergraduate institutions and majors based primarily on how they score on the Ethiopian National Higher Education Entrance Examination.

Authors

• Meseret F. Hailu, University of Georgia

• So Yoon Yoon, University of Cincinnati

• Qin Xie, University of Minnesota