Abstract
Researchers often invoke the metaphor of a pipeline when studying participation in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), focusing on the important issue of students who "leak" from the pipeline, but largely ignoring students who persist in STEM. Using interview, survey, and institutional data over 6 years, we examined the experiences of 921 students who persisted in biomedical fields through college graduation and planned to pursue biomedical careers. Despite remaining in the biomedical pipeline, almost half of these students changed their career plans, which was almost twice the number of students who abandoned biomedical career paths altogether. Women changed plans more often and were more likely than men to change to a career requiring fewer years of post-graduate education. Results highlight the importance of studying within-pipeline patterns rather than focusing only on why students leave STEM fields.
Highlights
Researchers and policy makers often invoke the metaphor of a pipeline when studying participation in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
We first examined whether students remained in the biomedical pipeline throughout college, measured in terms of (i) whether they graduated with a degree in a biomedical field and (ii) whether they continued to pursue a biomedical career after graduation (Fig. 1)
Of the 997 students who graduated with a biomedical degree, 76 students (6.4% of initial sample) had abandoned biomedical career plans by graduation
Summary
Researchers and policy makers often invoke the metaphor of a pipeline when studying participation in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students who begin their college education with an interest in STEM fields will flow through this pipeline and eventually pursue STEM careers, but some students “leak” out by choosing non-STEM majors, pursuing non-STEM career paths, or dropping out of college altogether [1,2,3]. This metaphor is widely used in contemporary research and practice, with the goal of exploring and preventing leaks in the pipeline [2, 4,5,6,7]. Every student who drops their medical school aspirations in favor of a biomedical career requiring less education (e.g., to become a bachelors-level biology laboratory technician) exacerbates this critical shortage
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
