College Major Choice in STEM: Revisiting Confidence and Demographic Factors

Abstract

Using national freshman survey data, the authors examined confidence and background variables (e.g., gender, minority status, parental occupation) as predictors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major choice. Logistic regression analyses revealed that students were more likely to choose STEM majors if they had strong confidence in mathematics and academic areas and had parents with STEM occupations. Although female students were unlikely to choose a STEM major, African American and Latina/o students were equally as likely to choose a STEM major as were White or Asian American students. Findings suggest that students' confidence level in their academic and mathematics abilities makes a significant difference in their initial STEM major choice. Study findings could assist educators, counselors, and policy makers in their efforts to promote student choice of STEM‐related majors and careers.

Trait Emotional Intelligence, Self-Confidence and Valuation of Mathematics: Mediation and Moderated Mediation Analyses of Summer Versus Regular Semester Students

“…The unifying conclusion is that women and racial minorities have lower selfconfidence in their ability than males or racial majorities (e.g. Moakler, Kim & Minsun, 2014;Morony, Kleitman, Lee & Stankov, 2012;London et al, 2012;Nagy, et al, 2006).…”

The Quantitative Reasoning for College Science (QuaRCS) Assessment 2: Demographic, Academic and Attitudinal Variables as Predictors of Quantitative Ability

“…Moakler and Kim (2014) examined the relationship between confidence and demographic information in a national survey of 335,842 college freshman and found that even women and minorities who reported above average confidence in other domains still reported lower confidence in mathematics, and their mathematical confidence levels were nearly 10% lower than males and non-minorities.…”

“…Mathematical experiences and preparation in secondary education are highly influential and are a significant driving force behind choice of major in college (Betz and Hackett 1983;Moakler and Kim 2014). Lower mathematical achievement deters students from pursuing STEM disciplines, and those who do choose STEM majors are disproportionately likely to be young, male, come from higher socioeconomic background, have a parent with a STEM degree, and have had sufficient prior preparation in science and mathematics (Wang 2013).…”

“…Various levels of severity exist, with some students expressing purely testinduced math anxiety, while others report anxiety in all math-related contexts. The literature discussing mathematics self-efficacy shows a direct relationship between low levels of self-efficacy and higher levels of mathematics anxiety (Matthews and Seaman 2007;Durrani and Tariq 2009), as well as correlations between high math anxiety and negative attitudes toward the development of numerical skills (Durrani and Tariq 2009;Moakler and Kim 2014). Students lacking confidence can begin to manifest negative attitudes toward mathematics in general.…”

Enhancing Curriculum in a First-Year Introduction to Engineering Course to Assist Students in Choice of Major

“…A qualitative study of nonpersisters in engineering showed that individual factors and institutional factors influenced the students' decision to leave engineering. 4 Individual factors included: failure to integrate into engineering culture, disappointment, and feelings of being overwhelmed. Institutional factors included: inadequate high school preparation, loss of motivation to study due to program rigor, poor teaching/mentoring, inadequate advising, unwelcome culture of engineering department, financial pressures, poor academic performance, disinterested.…”