NSF Award Abstract - #0337543

Understanding Factors that Sustain STEM Career Pathways

Abstract

The proposed one and a half-year research program addresses a national need to develop an understanding of how individual student occupational career lines in STEM are either nourished and sustained or inhibited and attenuated during the course of student careers in secondary and post-secondary settings. Research includes two interrelated studies. The Cohort Study of STEM Career Outcomes tracks students longitudinally in terms of course taking patterns and post-secondary outcomes to examine career pathways taken by the 1993/94 cohort of 82,000 Florida high school graduates to understand demographic and experience variables associated with successful and unsuccessful outcomes related to STEM. The Retrospective Study of STEM Career Outcomes provides a detailed look at the range of motivations, opportunities, obstacles and structural constraints that either sustained or curtailed STEM career mobility through interviews conducted with 150 individuals who have moved successfully into STEM careers. These data will be compared with a matched group of 150 individuals with similar credentials who have not pursued STEM careers. Based on available research on career decisions and pathways, we will collect information on the key background factors, experiences and career cognitions affect STEM career persistence, looking in detail at differences in the career paths for individuals who have pursued different types of STEM careers. Intellectual Merit Currently, there is little in-depth understanding of how individuals effectively orchestrate school and work-related experiences over time from high school through college and beyond to pursue careers in STEM in contrast to those who do not. While other research has investigated institutional impacts on individual outcomes (c.f. Bowen & Bok, 1998; Massey, Charles, Lundy, & Fischer, 2003), neither of these studies (1) documents career decision making processes; (2) focuses systematically on career pathways and outcomes or (3) relies upon a mixed methods approach. Both studies are informed by an interest in economic outcomes of affirmative action policies in higher education. Results will offer an understanding of how structural supports and barriers affect student outcomes including student motivation to excel and embark upon STEM career pathways. Results will also show differences in factors that enhance or impede participation in STEM education and occupations for different demographic groups, providing a foundation for practices likely to increase motivation and opportunities to participate in STEM, particularly for women and other underrepresented minorities. Broader Impacts Our program of research addresses an imperative national need for recruiting skilled and talented U.S. workers into STEM careers. Contemporary U.S. society is characterized by an absence of structured supports, making career decision-making in adolescence particularly significant. Furthermore, while approximately 60 percent of high school graduates obtain some college education only about 25 percent actually graduate with 4-year degrees. This research can provide guidance to NSF in building and sustaining a well-prepared STEM workforce representative of the American populace.