Barriers and Opportunities in Completing Two- and Four-Year STEM Degrees

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The National Research Council (NRC) Board on Science Education, in collaboration with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce, the Teacher Advisory Council, and the National Academy of Engineering, requests support for a study to understand the barriers to completion of two- and four-year STEM degrees and opportunities for overcoming these barriers. The study will explore the role of motivation, interest and attitude in shaping undergraduates' trajectories in STEM, especially in the transition from two-year to four-year institutions. It will give special attention to factors beyond the quality of instruction that influence diverse students' decisions to stay in or leave STEM majors' such as grading policies, course sequences, undergraduate learning and living environments, students' general self-efficacy and self-efficacy in science, high school preparation, family background, career and life aspirations, and knowledge of STEM careers. The study will build on related NRC work, including the recent summit on community colleges in the evolving STEM education landscape, the study of Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads and the ongoing study of Discipline-Based Education Research.