Inside the STEM pipeline: Changes in students’ biomedical career plans across the college years

Rosenzweig, Emily Q.; Hecht, Cameron A.; Priniski, Stacy J.; Canning, Elizabeth A.; Asher, Michael W.; Tibbetts, Yoi; Hyde, Janet Shibley; Harackiewicz, Judith M.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe0985

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Researchers also find support for the predictions using other kinds of methods. For instance, Rosenzweig et al (2021) interviewed a large sample of college students who either stayed in STEM majors or opted out. They found that the students’ task values were the key predictor of their choice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: Reflections on the legacy of 40+ years of working together.

Eccles¹,

Wigfield²

2023

Motivation Science

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: Reflections on the legacy of 40+ years of working together.

Eccles¹,

Wigfield²

2023

Motivation Science

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“…That more older, returning students, women, and members of underrepresented racial minority groups report such positive value perceptions and trajectories suggests that at this particular institution, the oft referenced “STEM pipeline” may indeed be broadening (Maltese & Tai, 2011; Sass, 2015). As scholarship focused on the experiences of STEM learners moves away from the STEM pipeline metaphor and reorients away from deficit oriented “leaks” of students from it (Cannady et al, 2014), the accounts of students as they persist through STEM learning experiences become central to the narrative about STEM training opportunities (Rosenzweig et al, 2021). Our quantitative findings make an empirical case for additional exploration that can more precisely capture the observed motivational trajectories of specific cultural groups within the underrepresented minority group (Cokley & Awad, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial and evolving perceptions of value and cost of engaging in undergraduate science course work and effects on achievement and persistence.

Hong¹,

Bernacki²

2022

Journal of Educational Psychology

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Undergraduates often report problematic perceptions of low value and high cost in their initial science courses. These beliefs often predict poor performance and retention, and also strengthen over time. Few studies have examined how profiles of value and cost beliefs emerge, and fewer track students' transitions across profiles over a course and their implications for learning outcomes. We observed undergraduates' value and cost perceptions for a science course at the beginning, middle, and end of a semester; fit latent profiles and latent transitions; and examined both how students' demographics predicted profile membership and transition membership, and how such membership predicted achievement and intentions to continue in one's major. Value-oriented, cost-oriented, and moderately-motivated profiles consistently emerged across time points, and 32% of students transitioned across them within the semester. Trends included stable, upward (with rising value to cost balance), downward, and fluctuating perceptions. Demographic characteristics predicted profile membership and transition likelihood. Stable value-oriented and upward transition profiles outperformed stable cost-oriented and downward transition profiles. Members of stable and increasingly cost-oriented profiles expressed stronger intentions to leave their STEM programs. Findings align to expectancy-value theory and indicate that initial and periodic surveying may be important to monitor perceptions known to impact achievement and retention. Value and cost interventions may be useful to encourage perceptions and transitions associated with positive outcomes. Educational Impact and Implications StatementStudents' perceptions of the value and costs of their course work are known to predict their achievement and influence their intention to abandon their pursuit of a STEM degree. Students' motivations are also known to change over time. We examined undergraduate science learners' motivations at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester, then established three initial profiles (moderately motivated, cost-oriented, value-oriented) and students' alignment to them at each time point. Students (32%) transitioned in ways we classified as toward stronger value, toward stronger cost, or fluctuating over time. Women, older students, and those from racial groups underrepresented in STEM tended to be value oriented, and students who stably endorsed or transitioned into this profile performed better in the course and expressed the least interest in leaving their major. The opposite was true for those in cost-oriented profiles.

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“…To measure long-term persistence, we examined students’ academic majors 2.5 y postintervention, which was the end of junior year for most students in the sample. This is a critical juncture in a student’s academic trajectory: By this timepoint, all students are required to declare a major and their academic plans have stabilized ( 26 ). In our sample, 73% of students were majoring in a STEM field at this timepoint.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utility-value intervention promotes persistence and diversity in STEM

Asher

Harackiewicz

Beymer

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We tested the long-term effects of a utility-value intervention administered in a gateway chemistry course, with the goal of promoting persistence and diversity in STEM. In a randomized controlled trial (N = 2,505), students wrote three essays about course content and its personal relevance or three control essays. The intervention significantly improved STEM persistence overall (74% vs. 70% were STEM majors 2.5 y later). Effects were larger for students from marginalized and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, who were 14 percentage points more likely to persist in STEM fields in the intervention condition (69% vs. 55%). Mediation analysis suggests that the intervention promoted persistence for these students by bolstering their motivation to attain a STEM degree and by promoting engagement with course assignments. This theory-informed curricular intervention is a promising tool for educators committed to retaining students in STEM.

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Inside the STEM pipeline: Changes in students’ biomedical career plans across the college years

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

Expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: Reflections on the legacy of 40+ years of working together.

Expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: Reflections on the legacy of 40+ years of working together.

Initial and evolving perceptions of value and cost of engaging in undergraduate science course work and effects on achievement and persistence.

Utility-value intervention promotes persistence and diversity in STEM

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