Journal Article

STEM Degree Completion and First-Generation College Students: A Cumulative Disadvantage Approach to the Outcomes Gap

Wells, Ryan S, Manly, Catherine A, Kimball, Ezekiel, Bettencourt, Genia M

2020

Overview

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.

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Subject: Academic achievement / Academic Aspiration / Academic Degrees / Academic Persistence / College students / Demographics / Dropouts / Educational Attainment / Educationally Disadvantaged / First Generation College Students / First generation students / Grade 10 / Grade Point Average / High School Students / Higher education / Longitudinal Studies / Mathematics Achievement / Mathematics education / Minority students / Parent Background / Predictor Variables / School Holding Power / Science education / Secondary schools / Self Efficacy / STEM Education / Student Characteristics / Student retention / Two Year College Students / Undergraduate Students