College Enrollment and STEM Major Choice in a Rural State
A Statewide Examination of Recent High School Cohorts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2021.v11n1p40-59Keywords:
rural education, college access, college choice, STEM major choice, statewide longitudinal studyAbstract
Rural students account for almost 20% of the US K-12 students, but rural context varies from state to state. This study uses a statewide longitudinal sample (N = 3,119) to analyze college enrollment and STEM major choice patterns of Montana’s public high school students in the academic years of 2013-2017. The binary logistic regressions showed that Montanan students are more likely to enroll into a 4-year institution than a 2-year institution. Also, students enrolled at a 4-year institution are more likely to consider STEM majors than students at a 2-year institution. Although high school GPA and ACT STEM scores are strong predictors for both college enrollment and STEM major choice, findings for race/ethnicity, gender, and free or reduced-price lunch status varied across the two outcomes. Specifically, race/ethnicity contributes to variation in college enrollment, but not STEM major choice. Similarly, free or reduced-price lunch status in high school is predictive of college enrollment, but not for STEM major choice. Although there was no difference in college enrollment type for gender, male students are more likely to select a STEM major, and this trend occurs at a rate of three times higher at a 4-year institution versus a 2-year institution. Our findings provide additional nuances of rural students, contributing to the understanding of their college enrollment and STEM major choices in the context of Montana - a large geographic, low populous state - which has received less attention than urban and high-density states.
References
ACT. (2015). ACT introduces new STEM college readiness benchmark: Results reveal limited readiness for college STEM coursework. https://www.act.org/content/act/en/newsroom/act-introduces-new-stem-college-readiness-benchmark--results-rev.html
ACT. (2019). The condition of college & career readiness 2019: Montana key findings. http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/cccr-2019/Montana-CCCR-2019.pdf
Agresti, A. (2017). Statistical methods for the social sciences (5th ed.). Pearson.
Allen, A., & Roberts, J. K. (2019). Space and place in rural program implementation: A look at two early college programs in Ohio. The Rural Educator, 40(1), 29-44. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v40i1.531
Allensworth, E. M., & Clark, K. (2020). High school GPAs and ACT scores as predictors of college completion: Examining assumptions about consistency across high schools. Educational Researcher, (49)3, 198-211. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20902110
Blagg, K., Gundersen, C., Whitmore-Schanzenbach, D., & Ziliak, J. P. (2017). Assessing food insecurity on campus: A national look a food insecurity among America’s college students. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/assessing-food-insecurity-campus
Broton, K. M., & Goldrick-Rab, S. (2018). Going without: An exploration of food and housing insecurity among undergraduates. Educational Researcher, 47(2), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17741303
Brown, L. (2017). Native American transfer students from tribal institutions in Montana. [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana State University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. (1964386236). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/native-american-transfer-students-tribal/docview/1964386236/se-2?accountid=10639
Burke, M. R., Davis, E., & Stephan, J. L. (2015). College enrollment patterns for rural Indiana high school Graduates. (REL 2015-083). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs
Byun, S.-y., Meece, J. L., & Agger, C. A. (2017). Predictors of college attendance patterns of rural youth. Research in Higher Education, 58(8), 817-842. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9449-z
Camelo, K., & Elliott, M. (2019). Food insecurity and academic achievement among college students at a public university in the United States. Journal of College Student Development, 60(3), 307-318. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2019.0028
Committee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council. (2018). Charting a course for success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2019/05/f62/STEM-Education-Strategic-Plan-2018.pdf
Corley, A. J. (2018). Understanding college readiness experiences of rural high school students in pursuit of postsecondary education. [Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University] ProQuest Central; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2092320650). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/understanding-college-readiness-experiences-rural/docview/2092320650/se-2?accountid=10639
de Brey, C., Musu, L., McFarland, J., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., Diliberti, M., Zhang, A., Branstetter, C. & Wang, X. (2019). Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2018. National Center for Education Statistics: ERIC (ED592833). https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019038.pdf
Douglas, D., & Salzman, H. (2019). Math counts: Major and gender differences in college mathematics coursework. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(1), 84-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1602393
Eccher, F. (2019). Breaking the “Golden Cage”: Increasing college access for low-income high-achieving rural students through the selective college admissions process. [Unpublished senior capstone, Yale University]. https://educationstudies.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/eccherfranklin_36879_2901924_Eccher Capstone Final.pdf
Eppley, K., Azano, A. P., Brenner, D. G., & Shannon, P. (2018). What Counts as Evidence in Rural Schools? Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence for Diverse Settings. The Rural Educator, 39(2), 36-40. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v39i2.208
Gill, A. M., & Leigh, D. E. (2000). Community college enrollment, college major, and the gender wage gap. ILR Review, 54(1), 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390005400109
Hango, D., Zarifa, D., Pizarro Milian, R., & Seward, B. (2019). Roots and STEMS? Examining field of study choices among northern and rural youth in Canada. Studies in Higher Education, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1643308
Irvin, M. J., Byun, S.-y., Meece, J. L., Reed, K. S., & Farmer, T. W. (2016). School characteristics and experiences of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American youth in rural communities: Relation to educational aspirations. Peabody Journal of Education, 91(2), 176-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2016.1151739
Jewett, E. C. (2019). AP STEM Course-taking and college STEM major selection: An examination of the relationship and how it differs by gender and race/ethnicity. [Doctoral dissertation, Seton Hall University] Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDS). https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2623/
Jiang, M., Ishdorj, A., & Dudensing, R. M. (2018). How standardized testing affects students’ college readiness in Texas [Selected paper]. 2018 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.274492
Jiang, S., Simpkins, S. D., & Eccles, J. S. (2020). Individuals’ math and science motivation and their subsequent STEM choices and achievement in high school and college: A longitudinal study of gender and college generation status differences. Developmental Psychology, 56(11), 2137-2151. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001110
Jones, M. C., Srite, M., Chandrasekaran, R., Iyer, L. S., Kayworth, T., & Thatcher, J. B. (2019). Getting information systems programs classified as STEM: A US-based perspective from an AIS task force study and panel discussion. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 44(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.04423
Khosla, N., Gamba, R., Taylor, S., Adediji, L., Bovey, J., Engelman, A., Jones-Bey, A., Lan, T. K., Vo, H. Washington, V. & Inch, E. S. (2020). Academic goal-setting among college students experiencing food insecurity, housing instability, and other challenges in a diverse public university. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 29(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2020.1678810
Koricich, A., Chen, X., & Hughes, R. P. (2018). Understanding the effects of rurality and socioeconomic status on college attendance and institutional choice in the United States. The Review of Higher Education, 41(2), 281-305. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2018.0004
Kryst, E. L., Kotok, S., & Hagedorn, A. (2018). Pursuing higher education in rural Pennsylvania schools: Shaping the college path. The Rural Educator, 39(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v39i1.211
Lee, J., Weis, L., Liu, K., & Kang, C. (2017). Which type of high school maximizes students’ college match? Unequal pathways to postsecondary destinations for students from varying high school settings. The Journal of Higher Education, 88(4), 529-560. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.1272327
Mau, W.-C. J. (2016). Characteristics of US students that pursued a STEM major and factors that predicted their persistence in degree completion. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(6), 1495-1500. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2016.040630
Moakler, M. W., Jr., & Kim, M. M. (2014). College major choice in STEM: Revisiting confidence and demographic factors. The Career Development Quarterly, 62(2), 128-142. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2014.00075.x
Montana Office of Public Instruction. (2021). Montana American Indian student achievement data report Fall 2018. Indian Student Achievement Unit. Retrieved May 31, 2021 from http://opi.mt.gov/Portals/182/Page Files/Indian Education/Indian Student Achievement/Docs/Data_Report_2018.pdf?ver=2021-03-11-153704-403
Monana Office of Public Instruction. (2019). The OPI announces record high graduation rates for Montana in 2018. Montana.gov. Retrieved December 12, 2020 from https://news.mt.gov/the-opi-announces-record-high-graduation-rates-for-montana-in-2018
Montana University System. (2020). MUS first-time freshman. Author. Retrieved January 2, 2021 from https://mus.edu/data/dashboards/first-time-freshmen.html
Montana University System & Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. (2020). Operational guidelines for dual enrollment. https://mus.edu/dualenroll/documents/MUS-DE-guidelines.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). School Locale Definitions. Rural Education in America. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ruraled/definitions.asp
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). High school status completion rates. Author. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_rdd.asp
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. (2019). Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering. (Special Report SF 19-304). National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/about-this-report
Niu, S. X. (2015). Leaving home state for college: Differences by race/ethnicity and parental education. Research in Higher Education, 56(4), 325-359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9350-y
Ovink, S., Kalogrides, D., Nanney, M., & Delaney, P. (2018). College match and undermatch: Assessing student preferences, college proximity, and inequality in post-college outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 59(5), 553-590. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-017-9482-y
Patnaik, A., Wiswall, M. J., & Zafar, B. (2020). College Majors. (Working Paper Series, WP 27645). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27645
Payne-Sturges, D. C., Tjaden, A., Caldeira, K. M., Vincent, K. B., & Arria, A. M. (2018). Student hunger on campus: Food insecurity among college students and implications for academic institutions. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(2), 349-354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117117719620
Phelps, L. A., Camburn, E. M., & Min, S. (2018). Choosing STEM college majors: Exploring the role of pre-college engineering courses. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 8(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1146
Price, H. E. (2020). The college preparatory pipeline: Disparate stages in academic opportunities. American Educational Research Journal, https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220969138.
Rosecrance, P. (2017). Snapshot of rural Appalachian high school students’ college-going and STEM perceptions. [Master’s thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville]. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/5000
Schmitt-Wilson, S., & Downey, J. A. (2018). Rural educational attainment: The importance of context. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 33(3), 1-14.
Schuler, E. J. (2020). Place-based innovations for rural education: An introduction to volume 10, issue 1 of TPRE. Theory & Practice in Rural Education, 10(1), 2-5. https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2020.v10n1p2-5
Shewach, O. R., McNeal, K. D., Kuncel, N. R., & Sackett, P. R. (2019). Bunny hill or black diamond: Differences in advanced course‐taking in college as a function of cognitive ability and high school GPA. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 38(1), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12212
Showalter, D., Klein, R., Johnson, J., & Hartman, S. L. (2017). Why rural matters 2015-2016: Understanding the changing landscape. Rural School and Community Trust.
Tieken, M. C. (2016). College talk and the rural economy: Shaping the educational aspirations of rural, first-generation students. Peabody Journal of Education, 91(2), 203-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2016.1151741
Tieken, M. C., & San Antonio, D. M. (2016). Rural aspirations, rural futures: From “problem” to possibility. Peabody Journal of Education (91)2, 131-136. https://doi.org//10.1080/0161956X.2016.1151733
U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). QuickFacts: Montana. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/MT
U.S. Department of Education. (2021, May). Undegraduate enrollment. The Condition of Education 2021, Chapter 3. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cha.asp
U.S. Department of Education & American Institutes for Research. (2015). STEM 2026: A vision for innovation in STEM education. Author. https://www.air.org/system/files/downloads/report/STEM-2026-Vision-for-Innovation-September-2016.pdf
Versland, T., Will, K., Lux, N., & Hicks, J. (2020). Envisioning the rural practicum: A means to positively affect recruitment and retention in rural schools. Theory & Practice in Rural Education, 10(1), 103-118. https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2020.v10n1p103-118
Vu, P., Harshbarger, D., Crow, S., & Henderson, S. (2019). Why STEM? Factors that influence gifted students’ choice of college majors. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science, 3(2), 63-71.
Wagner, B. (2017). Economic growth in rural montana. Montana Department of Labor and Industry. https://lmi.mt.gov/_docs/Publications/EAG-Articles/1217-RuralEconomy.pdf
Weeden, K. A., Gelbgiser, D., & Morgan, S. L. (2020). Pipeline dreams: Occupational plans and gender differences in STEM major persistence and completion. Sociology of Education, 93(4), 297-314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040720928484
Westrick, P. A., Le, H., Robbins, S. B., Radunzel, J. M., & Schmidt, F. L. (2015). College performance and retention: A meta-analysis of the predictive validities of ACT® scores, high school grades, and SES. Educational Assessment, 20(1), 23-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2015.997614
Whitaker, B. T. (2016). Assessment of barriers to recruitment and different recruitment strategies of North Carolina high school students into Uudergraduate agricultural programs. [Unpublished master’s thesis, North Carolina State University]. https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.20/33392/etd.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Whitaker, B. T., Osborne, J. A., Anderson, K., Livingston, K., & Brierton, S. (2018). Assessment of the ASPIRE (ACT Supplemental Preparation in Rural Education) Program: A tool to increase ACT college entrance examination scores of rural high school students. NACTA Journal, 62(4), 339-345. https://www.nactateachers.org/attachments/article/2796/13%20%20Braxton%20T.%20Whitaker.pdf
Wiswall, M., Stiefel, L., Schwartz, A. E., & Boccardo, J. (2014). Does attending a STEM high school improve student performance? Evidence from New York City. Economics of Education Review, 40, 93-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.01.005
Wright, A. L. (2019). What is in a Major? Habitus, class, gender, and major choice among first-generation college students. [Electronic master’s thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu155500065738355
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Que N. Tran, Monte Meyerink, Alexandra Aylward, Fenqjen Luo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Articles will be published using a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Sharealike license. (For more information on this license, please visit the Creative Commons license page.) Please also note that the authors are explicitly granting permission for Academic Library Services to store a copy of the article in The ScholarShip, ECU's Institutional Repository under the terms of the current ScholarShip license. As a North Carolina agency, ECU contributes copies of all publications to the North Carolina State Archives.
