STEMming Opportunity: High School Majors and the Maintenance of Educational Inequality

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 21: K-12 Policies and Politics

Abstract

In 2013, Texas adopted a graduation plan that required students to complete an endorsement, a curriculum-area concentration akin to a major, during high school. While this policy change intended to broaden opportunities for Texas students, regardless of whether they aspired to attend college, scholars have suggested that the endorsement system, specifically the STEM endorsement, might serve as a form of tracking. Drawing upon the sociological theories of effectively maintained inequality and categorical inequality, and using data from the Houston Independent School District, we find that students who completed the STEM endorsement earned higher grades and took more advanced courses than students who completed other endorsements. While STEM endorsement completers enrolled in more selective institutions, this relationship appeared to be mediated by their strong academic performance. In practical terms, the STEM endorsement appears to function as a label and funneling mechanism for high-performing students into selective colleges and universities. Thus, this study highlights how policies that aim to expand education may have unintended consequences that reify existing inequalities.

Authors

• Brian Holzman, Texas A&M University

• Shuyu Wang, Texas A&M University

• Bethany Lewis, Rice University

• Hao Ma, Rice University