Faculty Perceptions of the Factors Influencing Success in STEM Fields

Erica Marti,Eshani Gandhi-Lee,Heater Skaza,Pg Schrader,Marykay Orgill

doi:10.51355/jstem.2015.7

Abstract

The recent decline in the number of graduates in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has significant implications for the nation’s economic and societal well-being (PCAST, 2012). Because university faculty members’ interactions with students—both in and out of the classroom—have a significant impact on student recruitment and retention and because faculty beliefs have a significant impact on faculty practices (Astin & Astin, 1992), we have interviewed university faculty members in order to examine their perceptions of successful STEM students. Here, we report faculty members’ perceptions of the characteristics of successful tertiary STEM students, as well as their perceptions of the major obstacle to student success in STEM courses and programs of study. While faculty perceptions of the characteristics of successful STEM students generally align with the research literature, faculty did not mention experiences or instructional strategies they could implement in their classrooms to help students develop these characteristics. The results of the current study could inform the design of faculty professional development to ensure that faculty are aware of the various ways they can support student success in STEM fields.

Highlights

The recent decline in the number of graduates in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has significant implications for the nation’s economic and societal well-being (PCAST, 2012)
As researchers who are interested in promoting STEM education and in encouraging more students to enter STEM-related fields and careers, we wanted to know the characteristics of successful tertiary STEM students in order to develop programs and curricula that would cultivate these same characteristics in students who were progressing through their primary and secondary education
Each of the 27 faculty members we interviewed perceived general traits and skills—like curiosity and problem solving skills—as being important characteristics of successful tertiary STEM students

Summary

Introduction

The recent decline in the number of graduates in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has significant implications for the nation’s economic and societal well-being (PCAST, 2012). Studies have examined the factors that promote student recruitment and retention in STEM courses and programs of study (Astin & Astin, 1992; Chang et al, 2014; Hall et al, 2011) These studies have found that faculty play an instrumental role in how students understand and experience STEM fields, especially in the early years of college (Astin & Astin, 1992; Kuh & Hu, 2001; Newman, 2011; Rask, 2010), the most important for recruitment and retention of STEM majors (PCAST, 2012). We will discuss factors that fall into four major themes: characteristics that are internal to the student; student interactions with faculty; student interactions with peers; and, classroom environment

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