TY - JOUR
T1 - Unrealized Potential
T2 - Community College Pathways to STEM Baccalaureate Degrees
AU - Bahr, Peter Riley
AU - Jackson, Grant
AU - McNaughtan, Jon
AU - Oster, Meghan
AU - Gross, Jillian
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded in part by a grant from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges.
Publisher Copyright:
©, © The Ohio State University.
PY - 2017/5/4
Y1 - 2017/5/4
N2 - Our understanding of community college pathways to baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is remarkably incomplete, despite growing recognition of the sizeable role that community colleges stand to play in increasing the number of students who enter STEM baccalaureate programs, particularly underrepresented students. Here, we drew from data on nearly 3 million students to analyze participation in and navigation of the STEM transfer curriculum in community colleges, while focusing primarily on the fields of math, chemistry, and physics. We found that a large number of students enrolled in college-level STEM coursework, and many of these students were of demographic groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields. Yet, comparatively few students progressed into advanced STEM coursework. Moreover, the contribution of community colleges to resolving longstanding demographic inequities in STEM is constrained by pronounced gender and racial/ethnic differences in points of entry into the STEM curriculum, pathways through STEM, and manner of exit from STEM. As a result, much of the considerable potential of community colleges to improve STEM baccalaureate production and equity of opportunity in STEM remains largely unrealized at this point. We conclude with practical recommendations and a detailed research agenda to guide future inquiry on this subject.
AB - Our understanding of community college pathways to baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is remarkably incomplete, despite growing recognition of the sizeable role that community colleges stand to play in increasing the number of students who enter STEM baccalaureate programs, particularly underrepresented students. Here, we drew from data on nearly 3 million students to analyze participation in and navigation of the STEM transfer curriculum in community colleges, while focusing primarily on the fields of math, chemistry, and physics. We found that a large number of students enrolled in college-level STEM coursework, and many of these students were of demographic groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields. Yet, comparatively few students progressed into advanced STEM coursework. Moreover, the contribution of community colleges to resolving longstanding demographic inequities in STEM is constrained by pronounced gender and racial/ethnic differences in points of entry into the STEM curriculum, pathways through STEM, and manner of exit from STEM. As a result, much of the considerable potential of community colleges to improve STEM baccalaureate production and equity of opportunity in STEM remains largely unrealized at this point. We conclude with practical recommendations and a detailed research agenda to guide future inquiry on this subject.
KW - Baccalaureate
KW - STEM
KW - curriculum
KW - engineering
KW - math
KW - minority
KW - pathway
KW - science
KW - student
KW - transfer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046709801&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00221546.2016.1257313
DO - 10.1080/00221546.2016.1257313
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046709801
VL - 88
SP - 430
EP - 478
JO - Journal of Higher Education
JF - Journal of Higher Education
SN - 0022-1546
IS - 3
ER -