Available attrition statistics for graduate engineering students do not adequately inform current attrition research because they focus on degree completion rather than attrition or early departure; aggregate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students; and reflect out-of-date data. While recently some work has begun to explore doctoral attrition qualitatively, the purpose of this study is to describe current trends in graduate engineering students’ consideration of departure from their programs of study by capturing current numerical data specific to engineering about students’ recent attrition considerations. This is important because, since the last studies were conducted, higher education systems have experienced a global pandemic, economic downturn, and sociopolitical turmoil in the United States. Graduate students (n = 2204) in the U.S. completed a survey. The sample includes master’s (n = 535) and doctorate (n = 1646) degree-seeking students from 27 engineering disciplines and includes U.S. domestic and international populations. A majority of students considered leaving their degree program in the month before they took the survey: nearly 70% of Ph.D. and 39% of master’s students, while 31% of Ph.D. and 16% of master’s students seriously considered leaving their program without their degree. Descriptive statistics provide early departure considerations by engineering discipline, gender identity, race/ethnicity, nationality, and year in program by degree sought. Comparisons between groups are presented for gender, nationality, and career stage. It is essential to have an updated and discipline-specific benchmark of attrition considerations for continued engineering education research purposes, for mentorship, and for administrative purposes. Early departure from graduate school remains a threat to innovation and broadening participation in engineering and the professoriate.
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Revolving Doors: Cross-Country Comparisons of the Relationship between Math and Science Teacher Staffing and Student Achievement
Staffing classrooms with effective teachers remains a persistent policy challenge in the U.S. Teaching positions requiring STEM expertise are particularly difficult to fill. Scholars have identified similar trends in other industrialized nations. Yet, limited research examines international comparisons of the causes and consequences of staffing challenges. We use the 2015 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study to track teacher staffing difficulties in 27 countries. We find substantial variation across countries in the proportion of principals reporting difficulties filling STEM positions, with U.S. schools mirroring international averages. We also find consistent relationships between lower math and science achievement and attending a hard-to-staff school.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10191903
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Leadership and Policy in Schools
- ISSN:
- 1570-0763
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 16
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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I analyze how visa policies affect international students' transition to the U.S. labor market. The Optional Practical Training (OPT) program permits international students to work via a student visa for a limited period after graduation before obtaining a work visa—an uncertain process due to the binding visa cap. I find that the extension in the length of OPT terms for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) increases their likelihood of initially staying in the United States and using OPT. This result suggests that uncertainties about obtaining work visas hinder international STEM students' participation in the U.S. labor market. (
JEL J61, K37, I23). -
null (Ed.)Background: The global challenges of climate change, disease and hunger exceed national borders as do possibilities of sustained life, exploration and economic development in outer space. Both help to underscore the need for sustained international STEM research to leverage the talent embedded in different countries and in diverse groups within countries. This study focuses on the United States National Science Foundation provision of funds to its Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program to create a National Center of Excellence LSAMP-NICE for the establishment of international STEM Research Partnerships with a particular emphasis on the integration of international collaborative research for underrepresented minority STEM faculty, students and graduates. The study focuses on the diffusion of this Center’s services to the LSAMP Community, a group of 56 LSAMP funded STEM enrichment programs located across the United States. We found that LSAMP-NICE used mass media (a website and two advertorials in a national journal) and an annual national meeting as its major diffusion strategies during its first two years. Forty-two (42) programs responded to the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents (71.4%) had not used the website; 88.1% had not read the Advertorial in Science Magazine; and 78.6% did not attend the national 2019 LSAMP-NICE Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Our study suggests a need for additional diffusion techniques to reach the intended audience. Some respondent suggestions for diffusion include participation by LSAMP-NICE representatives at LSAMP Regional Conferences and Symposia, visits by LSAMP-NICE staff to LSAMP programs, forging relationships with higher education institutions abroad so LSAMP students can obtain summer or longer-term research experiences and providing technical assistance on applying for international travel funds.more » « less
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Abstract Background Large introductory lecture courses are frequently post-secondary students’ first formal interaction with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Grade outcomes in these courses are often disparate across student populations, which, in turn, has implications for student retention. This study positions such disparities as a manifestation of systemic inequities along the dimensions of sex, race/ethnicity, income, and first-generation status and investigates the extent to which they are similar across peer institutions.
Results We examined grade outcomes in a selected set of early STEM courses across six large, public, research-intensive universities in the United States over ten years. In this sample of more than 200,000 STEM course enrollments, we find that course grade benefits increase significantly with the number of systemic advantages students possess at all six institutions. The observed trends in academic outcomes versus advantage are strikingly similar across universities despite the fact that we did not control for differences in grading practices, contexts, and instructor and student populations. The findings are concerning given that these courses are often students’ first post-secondary STEM experiences.
Conclusions STEM course grades are typically lower than those in other disciplines; students taking them often pay grade penalties. The systemic advantages some student groups experience are correlated with significant reductions in these grade penalties at all six institutions. The consistency of these findings across institutions and courses supports the claim that inequities in STEM education are a systemic problem, driven by factors that go beyond specific courses or individual institutions. Our work provides a basis for the exploration of contexts where inequities are exacerbated or reduced and can be used to advocate for structural change within STEM education. To cultivate more equitable learning environments, we must reckon with how pervasive structural barriers in STEM courses negatively shape the experiences of marginalized students.
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null (Ed.)The global challenges of climate change, disease, and hunger exceed national borders as do possibilities of sustained life, exploration, and economic development in outer space. Both help to underscore the need for sustained international STEM research to leverage the talent embedded in different countries and in diverse groups within countries. This study focuses on the United States National Science Foundation provision of funds to its Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program to create a National Center of Excellence LSAMP-NICE for the establishment of international STEM Research Partnerships with a particular emphasis on the integration of international collaborative research for underrepresented minority STEM faculty, students and graduates. The study focuses on the diffusion of this Center’s services to the LSAMP Community, a group of 56 LSAMP funded STEM enrichment programs located across the United States. We found that LSAMP-NICE used mass media (a website and two advertorials in a national journal) and an annual national meeting as its major diffusion strategies during its first two years. Forty-two (42) programs responded to the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents (71.4%) had not used the website; 88.1% had not read the Advertorial in ScienceMagazine; and 78.6% did not attend the national 2019 LSAMP-NICE Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Our study suggests a need for additional diffusion techniques to reach the intended audience. Some respondent suggestions for diffusion include participation by LSAMP-NICE representatives at LSAMP Regional Conferences and Symposia, visits by LSAMP-NICE staff to LSAMP programs, forging relationships with higher education institutions abroad so LSAMP students can obtain summer or longer-term research experiences, and providing technical assistance on applying for international travel funds.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2020.1770804
