ERIC Number: EJ1251483
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-5748
EISSN: N/A
STEM Degree Completion and First-Generation College Students: A Cumulative Disadvantage Approach to the Outcomes Gap
Bettencourt, Genia; Manly, Catherine A.; Kimball, Ezekiel; Wells, Ryan S.
Review of Higher Education, v43 n3 p753-779 Spr 2020
STEM majors offer pathways to lucrative careers but are often inaccessible to first-generation students. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study, we conducted descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and group comparisons to examine differences between first-generation students and continuing-generation students across STEM degree, non-STEM degree, dropout, and no degree completion. Findings illuminate that generation status is related to STEM completion, but other factors are driving this association; for example, pre-college STEM factors have significant predictive power. Our implications suggest a need to further examine pre-college and transfer pathways to STEM and to explore the limitations of first-generation status as a categorization.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Educational Attainment, First Generation College Students, Academic Persistence, Longitudinal Studies, Dropouts, Educationally Disadvantaged, Student Characteristics, Two Year College Students, Undergraduate Students, Parent Background, Mathematics Achievement, Self Efficacy, High School Students, Grade 10, Predictor Variables, Academic Degrees
Johns Hopkins University Press. 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Tel: 800-548-1784; Tel: 410-516-6987; Fax: 410-516-6968; e-mail: jlorder@jhupress.jhu.edu; Web site: http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/subscribe.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges; High Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 10
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (NCES)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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