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Kellee Edmonds
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ACE Publication Sheds New Light on Minority Students Who Pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Majors

Washington, DC (April 3, 2006)–African American and Hispanic students begin college interested in majoring in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields at rates similar to those of white and Asian-American students, and persist in these fields through their third year of study, but do not earn their bachelor’s degrees at the same rate as their peers, according to a new analysis conducted by the American Council on Education (ACE). 

The analysis further finds that the majority of the African American and Hispanic students majoring in STEM fields who persisted beyond the third year did not drop out, but were still enrolled and working toward a degree after six years.

“Our analysis seems to dispel the commonly held belief that African American and Hispanic students aren’t interested in majoring in STEM fields,” said Eugene Anderson, associate director of the Center for Policy Analysis at ACE and co-author of the report. “We find that these students do pursue these majors and persist beyond the third year, but are not earning enough credits each year to attain a degree within six years.”

Increasing the Success of Minority Students in Science and Technology is the fourth publication in the ACE series The Unfinished Agenda: Ensuring Success for Students of Color.  The report relies on data from a longitudinal study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics which tracked 12,000 undergraduates who entered college in the fall of 1995.

Key Findings

• In the 1995-96 academic year, 18.6 percent of African-American students and 22.7 percent of Hispanic students began college interested in majoring in STEM fields compared with 18 percent of white students and 26.4 percent of Asian-American students.
• By the spring of 1998, students in each racial/ethnic group continued to study STEM fields at nearly the same rates (56 percent of African Americans and Hispanics, 57 percent of whites and Asian Americans).
• By the spring of 2001, 62.5 percent of African Americans and Hispanics majoring in STEM fields attained a bachelor’s degree compared with 94.8 percent of Asian Americans and 86.7 percent of whites.

Additional Findings

Although persistence rates of African American and Hispanic students majoring in STEM fields were below the overall persistence rates for these students in all fields, a statistical analysis showed that majoring in STEM fields did not affect student persistence. Instead, the variables strongly related to persistence for all students, regardless of major or race/ethnicity were full-time attendance, hours worked while enrolled, and rigor of high school curriculum.

“Positive and negative predictors of degree completion are not specific to the STEM fields, and the strategies for increasing minority student degree completion in the STEM fields are the same for increasing success in any other major,” added Dongbin Kim, assistant professor in the department of teaching and leadership at the University of Kansas and co-author of the report.

The ACE analysis identified a number of key differences between students who earned a bachelor’s degree by spring 2001 in a STEM field and those who did not.

• Completers were better prepared for postsecondary education because a larger percentage took a highly rigorous high school curriculum.
• Nearly all completers were younger than 19 when they entered college in 1995-96 compared with 83.9 percent of non-completers.
• Completers were more likely to have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Completers came from families with higher incomes.
• Non-completers were more likely to work 15 hours or more a week.

“The challenge now is to move traditionally underrepresented students in the STEM fields toward timely degree completion by supporting these students—both academically and financially—throughout their undergraduate careers,” added Anderson.

With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, ACE’s The Unfinished Agenda: Ensuring Success for Students of Color initiative aims to equip college and university leaders with information and strategies to help them ensure access and success to higher education for underserved minority college students.

Copies of Increasing the Success of Minority Students in Science and Technology (Item #310736) can be ordered for $22 (plus $6.95 shipping and handling) from the ACE Bookstore.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

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