Countering The Decline In Geoscience Majors

Abstract

Nationwide, the number of geoscience majors has declined since 1983. This decline has been explained as part of the more general decline in science majors due to 1) inadequate pre-college science education, 2) inadequate science-teacher training in colleges and universities, 3) the negative public image of science, 4) the overemphasis on research relative to teaching in colleges and universities, and 5) poor employment opportunities. The declining trend in students majoring in science can be reversed only over a period of several years. In contrast, the decline in geoscience majors can be reversed in a much shorter interval of time, because the first three factors above probably influence only a small percentage of new geoscience majors at the college and university level, and the fourth and fifth factors, which most directly influence potential new geoscience majors, can be remedied as early as the “next” semester. Many new geoscience majors are recruited from students who begin majoring in other fields ...