Science, Technology, Engineering And Math Degrees Research Articles

Student Attitudes and Interests in STEM in Qatar through the Lens of the Social Cognitive Theory

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) has taken center stage as a priority policy agenda for Qatar’s leadership. At present, STEM stands as a fundamental catalyst for Qatar’s sustainable economic, environmental, human, and social development goals, as is outlined in the Qatar National Vision 2030. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the determinants of students’ interest in pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) studies and eventual careers in Qatar. This study used a survey involving a representative sample of a total of 425 students from public (government-funded) middle schools in the country. Data for this research were gathered using a survey distributed to students in grades 7, 8, and 9. Guided by the Social Cognitive Theory, a survey was implemented with a view to investigating the intrinsic and extrinsic factors likely to contribute to student STEM educational and career interest. Two main statistical tests were carried out: independent sample t-tests and one way ANOVA. Results derived from the study reveal that gender, nationality, and parental education and occupation served as predictors of student interest in a STEM degree or profession. The results derived from this study have important implications for STEM-related fields of study and career.

STEM Graduates and Secondary School Curriculum

Increasing the number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) university graduates is considered a key element for long-term productivity and competitiveness in the global economy. Still, little is known about what actually drives and shapes students' choices. This paper focusses on secondary school students at the very top of the ability distribution and explores the effect of more exposure to science on enrolment and persistence in STEM degrees at the university and on the quality of the university attended. The paper overcomes the standard endogeneity problems by exploiting the different timing in the implementation of a reform that induced secondary schools in the UK to offer more science to high ability 14 year-old children. Taking more science in secondary school increases the probability of enrolling in a STEM degree by 1.5 percentage point and the probability of graduating in these degrees by 3 percentage points. The results mask substantial gender heterogeneity: while girls are as willing as boys to take advanced science in secondary school - when offered -, the effect on STEM degrees is entirely driven by boys. Girls are induced to choose more challenging subjects, but still the most female-dominated ones.

Young Women Exposed Actively to the Value of Biomedical Engineering.

To bridge the gap between the biological sciences (typically female-dominated) and engineering (typically male-dominated), biomedical engineering (BME) activities could potentially be used as a vehicle to alter female students' perception of engineering as a whole. Female's pursuit of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) degrees is typically confined to the biological sciences and females earn a high proportion of degrees in nursing, psychology and the social sciences, yet male presence persists in physical sciences and engineering. Female's participation in engineering remains much lower than men at all degree levels. Here, research questions included do female high school students: 1) perceive engineering as relevant? 2) have an interest & aptitude towards exploring engineering in college and as a career? 3) have anxiety in terms of engineering? 4) have engineering "role-confidence"? Participants, a randomly selected pool of 28 high school students (almost exclusively female from schools throughout the DC Metro area) took part in a week-long, all-day workshop where they were exposed to female engineering mentors, peers, and activities tied to BME & Engineering. Pre and post surveys, adapted from standard STEM surveys, were administered to the pool of participants. Increases in confidence and interest in engineering and decreased anxiety were observed following female high school students' participation in hands-on activities in BME.

A Persistent Academic Ethical Dilemma: Too Few Female Students in STEM Five Decades after Title IX

Research over the past three decades on the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) has consistently found an underrepresentation of females pursuing STEM degrees and careers. This is, at its foundation, an educational ethics issue. Schools at all levels, ranging all the way from middle school to graduate school, have a responsibility to prepare more females for careers in STEM. Experts have proposed a variety of fixes to encourage female students to study STEM, including increased funding, some of which have helped, and yet the gap remains. This paper examines one such effort to address this education and ethics issue - voluntary (elective) programs outside of normal school hours that provide young female students’ opportunities for active participation and engagement in STEM. Are these enrichment programs actually increasing subsequent female participation rates? The authors use a correlational study in an attempt to determine whether there is a positive correlation between participation in a voluntary before school STEM program (in grades 6–8), and their subsequent enrollment in STEM courses in high school, and/or in college and career. The authors surveyed intermediate school students, and the results showed that although voluntary before-school programs may not increase female interest in STEM, they do help to maintain long-term interest by those who have already demonstrated an inclination toward STEM. This is a pilot study with a limited number of subjects from one geographical area. Future research should be conducted that focuses on a larger nationwide sample to determine if school enrichment programs indeed act as career influencers for female students.

STEM Graduates and Secondary School Curriculum: Does Early Exposure to Science Matter?

This paper focuses on students at the very top of the ability distribution and explores whether strengthening high school science curricula affects their choice of enrolling in and completing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) degree at university. The paper solves the standard endogeneity problems by exploiting the different timing in the implementation of a reform that encouraged secondary schools in the UK to offer more science to high ability 14 year-olds. Taking five more hours per week of science in secondary school increases the probability of enrolling in a STEM degree by 1.2 percentage points and the probability of graduating in these degrees by 3 percentage points. The results mask substantial gender heterogeneity: while girls are as willing as boys to take advanced science in secondary school - when offered - the results on pure STEM degrees at university are entirely driven by boys. Girls are encouraged to choose more challenging subjects, but still opt for the most female-dominated ones.

Staying in STEM or changing course: Do natives and immigrants pursue the path of least resistance?

This paper examines why Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields are becoming “immigrant” fields of study as native students shift from STEM fields to law, medicine and business. Using data from the 2010 National Survey of College Graduates, the analyses find that foreign college-educated immigrants with STEM degrees tend to remain in STEM fields, while natives are more likely to shift from STEM fields to law, medicine and business in graduate school. Among those who moved into law, medicine and business, the gains in earnings are larger for natives than for foreign educated immigrants. These results have important implications for the social mobility of highly educated natives and immigrants.

Skills that Matter and Will Last a Lifetime

Much of the academic and popular press is correctly stressing the need for students to obtain STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) degrees to meet shortages as well as for the good of societal advancement. To those ends, you will find an extension that details attributes that most executives are looking for in new hires. Detailing the individual contribution needs works well as a foundation to realizing that executive replacement demands people who are technical, but can build and keep relationships as they co-create a new future through humanistic understandings. This manuscript is prescriptive and descriptive through identifying and addressing: 1) what are key issues surrounding reality, and becoming and remaining an “in reality” relational leader? 2) what are emotional intellect concerns and implications for relational leaders? 3) What is communication and how can we improve it in light of the abundance of technology available? 4) What is a people person; and what are prescripts useful in teaching, measuring and enhancing people person skills? It is clear that most fail at higher levels because they pay attention to issues that are not critical to their success. The chief intent of this article is to help rectify that by guiding readers toward preparing themselves for expanded managerial and leadership roles.

A Policy Brief: How Can the America COMPETES Act (2011) Better Support the Academic Success of African American Women in STEM Degree Programs?

The U.S. became a global leader during the twentieth century, due in part to the creativity and enterprise of its engineers, scientists and inventors. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions were essential to America's past and are critical to the country's future. Currently, the U.S. has lost its competitive edge, and is no longer the world's technological leader. Our once prominent position has diminished, in part, by disparities in STEM education, primarily due to the comparatively small number of students currently pursuing STEM education and their associated careers. By increasing the number of STEM graduates, especially among under-represented groups, the federal government aspires to harness America's full potential. In 2007, President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (American COMPETRES Act) into law. While, the American COMPETES Act (2007) covered a wide range of activities, it had little direct impact on minority STEM education opportunities. This article explores various policy issues needed to alleviate the barriers that limit the success of minority students, specifically African American women, at all levels of STEM education; and identifies specific higher education strategies that directly determine the academic success of female minority STEM college students.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academic Librarian Positions during 2013: What Carnegie Classifications Reveal About Desired STEM Skills.

This study analyzes the requirements and preferences of 171 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) academic librarian positions in the United States as advertised in 2013. This analysis compares the STEM background experience preferences with the Carnegie rankings of the employing institution. The research examines the extent to which employers are emphasizing STEM experience beyond academic degree preferences or requirements and also investigates continuous appointment positions and their advertisements. The findings show that institutions with higher research output as defined by Carnegie rankings are more likely to require STEM experience of some kind. Advertisements do not require STEM bachelor and advanced degrees a great deal of the time. Although these employers prefer them, they will many times accept other STEM experience in place of these degrees. Additionally, the study shows that continuous appointment positions are much more likely to be available in high research output institutions and more likely to require a degree in a STEM field. This study reveals new information in relation to the research ranking of an institution and how it relates to required experience beyond a STEM degree as well as the higher desire for a STEM degree by continuous appointment positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of Intersection Between Social Capital and Finances on Community College Students’ Pursuit of STEM Degrees

This quantitative study examined how social capital and finances influenced community college students’ intent to transfer to a four-year institution within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Focusing on the community college students enrolled in a rural midwestern state, the authors employed a structural equation modeling to investigate a set of large-scale survey data. The authors identify the factors related to social and cultural capital, finances, and external factors that pull students away from their studies. This was done to determine the relationships among these predictors and their direct and indirect effects on transfer intentions. Cabrera, Nora, and Castaneda’s (1992, 1993) integrated model of student retention was utilized to build the hypothetical model for this study. Significant findings from the study included a strong direct effect on the transfer intention from social capital, and a smaller effect from family encouragement, work–study, and parent education. The final model also identified social capital factors related to parental education levels, family encouragement, parent involvement in high school, and access to institutional agents. Debt aversion did play a role in the model, although not a part of social capital as originally hypothesized. Implications for policy, practice, and future studies were summarized based on the findings.

Underrepresented minority high school and college students report STEM-pipeline sustaining gains after participating in the Loma Linda University Summer Health Disparities Research Program.

An urgent need exists for graduate and professional schools to establish evidence-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline programs to increase the diversity of the biomedical workforce. An untapped yet promising pool of willing participants are capable high school students that have a strong STEM interest but may lack the skills and the guided mentoring needed to succeed in competitive STEM fields. This study evaluates and compares the impact of the Loma Linda University (LLU) Summer Health Disparities Research Program on high school (HS) and undergraduate (UG) student participants. The primary focus of our summer research experience (SRE) is to enhance the research self-efficacy of the participants by actively involving them in a research project and by providing the students with personalized mentoring and targeted career development activities, including education on health disparities. The results of our study show that our SRE influenced terminal degree intent and increased participant willingness to incorporate research into future careers for both the HS and the UG groups. The quantitative data shows that both the HS and the UG participants reported large, statistically significant gains in self-assessed research skills and research self-efficacy. Both participant groups identified the hands-on research and the mentor experience as the most valuable aspects of our SRE and reported increased science skills, increased confidence in science ability and increased motivation and affirmation to pursue a science career. The follow-up data indicates that 67% of the HS participants and 90% of the UG participants graduated from college with a STEM degree; for those who enrolled in graduate education, 61% and 43% enrolled in LLU, respectively. We conclude that structured SREs can be highly effective STEM strengthening interventions for both UG and HS students and may be a way to measurably increase institutional and biomedical workforce diversity.

Contrasting the application process and daily life of MD, MD/PhD, and PhD career tracks

Almost 60% of college matriculants who plan to pursue a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) major end up switching to other degrees or not graduating at all. But for those persistent enough to complete their undergraduate STEM degree, then the choice of the next career step becomes critical. Every fall, tens of thousands of college seniors and college graduates apply for a coveted 19,230 medical school slots, 610 MD/PhD slots, and ~8,000 biomedical PhD graduate school slots. While a strong academic performance, national test scores, and leadership/extra‐curricular activities help identify the top candidates, each of these career tracks require a previous substantive “internship”‐type experience and outstanding letters of recommendation. Moreover, the character traits that might best predict success are not measured by any of the above criteria. Thus, applicants are faced with making the optimal career choice between these highly related fields, and Programs are faced with identifying the very best candidates destined for the most productive and highest impact careers. In this presentation, I will contrast the application process and the daily life of the MD, MD/PhD, and PhD career tracks, with the goal to help clarify the best path for any individual considering these diverse, but related career trajectories.

Engage to Excel

In 2010, we and our colleagues on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a report entitled Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education for America's Future . This important report advocates preparing all students to use STEM in their personal and professional lives and inspiring them to learn STEM subjects and pursue STEM careers. But in the United States, over 60% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field fail to graduate with a STEM degree. Because economic analyses forecast that the United States will need 1 million more STEM graduates over the next decade than will be produced by our current modes of education, * reducing this dropout rate is the focus of a second report we released last month, called Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics . †

Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation

Our science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is crucial to America’s innovative capacity and global competitiveness. Yet women are vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and among STEM degree holders despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the college-educated workforce. That leaves an untapped opportunity to expand STEM employment in the United States, even as there is wide agreement that the nation must do more to improve its competitiveness.Although women fill close to half of all jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 25 percent of STEM jobs. This has been the case throughout the past decade, even as college-educated women have increased their share of the overall workforce.Women with STEM jobs earned 33 percent more than comparable women in non-STEM jobs – considerably higher than the STEM premium for men. As a result, the gender wage gap is smaller in STEM jobs than in non-STEM jobs.Women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering.Women with a STEM degree are less likely than their male counterparts to work in a STEM occupation; they are more likely to work in education or healthcare.There are many possible factors contributing to the discrepancy of women and men in STEM jobs, including: a lack of female role models, gender stereotyping, and less family-friendly flexibility in the STEM fields. Regardless of the causes, the findings of this report provide evidence of a need to encourage and support women in STEM.

A Multifaceted Outreach Model for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences in Buffalo, NY

Startling national statistics continue to illuminate the need for increasing the number of underrepresented minority students graduating with degrees in the geosciences. With increasing minority populations in the U.S., diversity becomes a key issue for the sustained success of college geoscience departments. The under-funded Buffalo Public School system struggles to provide quality science education to underrepresented students, which leads to few minorities pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) degrees in local colleges and universities. The Buffalo Geosciences Program (BGP) was created to provide opportunities for these underrepresented groups to participate in geoscience activities in Western New York. Our current program model (through many modifications) has now resulted in success of this objective by offering science education and outreach programming to a broad variety of public institutions at the primary, secondary, and postsecondary grade levels. During these interactions, students are made aware of geoscience career options and encouraged to pursue internships through the BGP. The ultimate (and attained) goal has been to produce minority geoscience undergraduate majors in colleges and universities.