In samples of students intending to major in STEM fields, men have been found to earn higher SAT-Math scores than women (Witherspoon & Schunn, 2020), and SAT-Math predicts persistence in STEM (Ackerman et al., 2013). Some focus on the ability to succeed in college-level STEM courses. We then examined a broad range of individual- and school-level correlates of persistence.Ī variety of individual-level explanations have been proposed for women's increased likelihood of leaving the STEM pipeline. We categorized students as persisting or not persisting in STEM based on their major at the end of their fourth year. This reflects college graduation for many students (48% for STEM majors 60% for non-STEM majors in our data) even for those taking longer, major change after four years is minimal. We then obtained the actual major of record after four years of study for students who remained at the same school. When students register for the SAT, they indicate their planned major we identified 40,974 students (27,423 men and 13,551 women) for whom a STEM major was their first choice. We drew on a rich data set, compiled by the College Board and made available to us, to examine four entering cohorts of a broad sample of 83 colleges and universities. In the present study, we explored several proposed explanations for gender differences in STEM persistence, including variables that reflect ability, academic preparation and investment, achievement, and self-rated ability, all of which were expected to be associated with persistence in STEM majors.
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Understanding why women leave STEM fields at higher rates than men is important, especially considering the relatively small number of women who enter the STEM pipeline to begin with. However, even among those initially planning to enter STEM fields, women have been found to leave STEM at higher rates than men at the secondary and post-secondary stages of the pipeline (Astorne-Figari & Speer, 2018). Thus, determinants of women's initial interest in STEM are of great concern. Women are more likely than men to earn college degrees, earning 57% of all bachelor's degrees in the U.S., yet compared to men, they remain underrepresented in most STEM fields at all post-secondary education levels (National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2021 Snyder et al., 2019). Although there is an overall shortage of undergraduates earning STEM degrees, the shortage of women is more extreme (National Science Board, 2018).
![stem major stem major](https://miro.medium.com/max/2568/1*q3IJJuv37JYIe0Zd8ALjiw.png)
Concerns persist regarding the country's ability to produce the desired quantity and quality of STEM professionals. workforce shortage in these fields have received much attention. The importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and the perceived U.S.