Connecting "Opportunity to Learn" to "Opportunity to Earn": Examining the Effects of High School Inequality on STEM Degree Attainment

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding High School Effects on Higher Education Access and Success

Abstract

In Texas, efforts to address high school inequality focus primarily on helping students access the state’s public flagships. These efforts create important inroads for high-ability students in lower-resourced secondary school; effectively diversifying the pool of schools sending students to public flagships. Using ten years of data, this study examines whether high school quality explains racial/ethnic differences in STEM degree attainment. Findings suggest accounting for differences in high school quality can eliminate and, at times, reverse racial/ethnic gaps in STEM completion. This finding is especially robust for high-ability students deriving from lower-resourced schools. Ultimately, this study begins to delineate the ways in which high school inequality magnifies racial/ethnic differences at selective public flagships, particularly in fields that build upon pre-college opportunities.

Author

• Tanya Chirapuntu, University of California - Los Angeles