Feeding the Pipeline: Preparing and Planning for STEM Careers

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SES-1023798Stephen MorganKim WeedenCornell University How do characteristics of classrooms and schools in the eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades affect later entry into science careers? How do young men and women envision the process of entering science careers, and how do their views shape their behavior while in middle school and high school? Analyzing survey data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (1988-2000) and the Education Longitudinal Study (2002-2006), the investigators will conduct three related projects. First, they will compare the high school graduating classes of 1992 and 2004, considering the differences across these two cohorts in the science courses they take in high school, in subsequent college entry, and in the selection of a science major in college. Second, using data on the high school graduating class of 1992, the investigators will model gender differences in the effects of engagement with science in the eighth grade and in high school on later entry into science careers, as of 2000. Third, using data on the high school graduating class of 2004, the investigators will model changes in the specificity and content of young men and women?s occupational plans, using heretofore unanalyzed verbatim responses about plans in the sophomore year of high school, the senior year of high school, and two-years following high school graduation. This project will assess (a) how plans for science careers coalesce and change as students develop more sophisticated understandings of the division of labor within science, the educational requirements of different science careers, and the costs and benefits of different science careers; (b) whether there are gender-specific trajectories in occupational plans, and (c) how these trajectories are mediated by family context or the high school curriculum. Broader Impacts Fierce international competition in science and engineering, emerging competition in information technology, and expanding demand for health care have led policy makers and workforce analysts to anticipate enormous shortfalls in the supply of personnel in STEM fields. To meet the twin challenges of staffing science positions and of ensuring diversity in those positions, it is critical to cultivate and nurture all of the available talent in the sciences. The largest untapped source of such talent consists of young women who have the demonstrated ability in middle and high school to prosper in scientific domains, but for various reasons forego scientific fields and careers. By using heretofore unanalyzed data and innovative estimation methods to understand how young women (and men) make decisions about whether or not to pursue science careers, the investigators will lay the foundation for new and effective interventions that will alleviate future shortages in science talent in the United States. The results of this research will help to pursue the nation?s goal of building a larger and stronger pool of scientists in the service of economic development and scientific progress.