‘I don’t Study Physics Anymore’: a Cross-Institutional Australian Study on Factors Impacting the Persistence of Undergraduate Science Students

Abstract

University is a critical timepoint for students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career pathway. Gender differences in the persistence of STEM students have been established, with female students more at risk for attrition from this career pathway. While the persistence of undergraduate STEM students has been a focus in the international literature, Australian studies in this space are limited. This cross-institutional study at eight different Australian universities set out to investigate how student experiences of science identity, belonging, and discrimination, which are known to impact student attrition, were affecting the persistence of students at university and in the science career pipeline. Three hundred eighty-six students who had experienced at least 1 year of university completed a questionnaire investigating these factors. Findings showed that high levels of science identity and belonging were associated with increased persistence intentions of female-identifying science students. Additionally, this same effect was found for male-identifying students in the more ‘gender-balanced’ science disciplines. Students also reported experiences of gender discrimination. Female students commonly reported negative experiences relating to group work, whereas male students reported initiatives to recruit more women into STEM as discriminatory against men. These results highlight potential ‘at-risk’ groups for attrition in the STEM fields, and provide an insight into the male student perspective on the gender equity in STEM discussion.