Comparing Success of Female Students to Their Male Counterparts in the STEM Fields: An Empirical Analysis from Enrollment Until Graduation Using Longitudinal Register Data

Autor/inn/en	Vooren, Melvin; Haelermans, Carla; Groot, Wim; van den Brink, Henriette Maassen
Titel	Comparing Success of Female Students to Their Male Counterparts in the STEM Fields: An Empirical Analysis from Enrollment Until Graduation Using Longitudinal Register Data
Quelle	In: International Journal of STEM Education, 9 (2022), Artikel 1 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Vooren, Melvin)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2196-7822
DOI	10.1186/s40594-021-00318-8
Schlagwörter	Academic Achievement; Academic Persistence; Gender Differences; College Students; STEM Education; Longitudinal Studies; Graduation Rate; Dropout Rate; Time to Degree; Enrollment Influences; Predictor Variables; Student Characteristics; Grades (Scholastic); Foreign Countries; Netherlands + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schulleistung; Geschlechterkonflikt; Collegestudent; STEM; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Prädiktor; Notenspiegel; Ausland; Niederlande
Abstract	Background: In this paper, we investigate the predictors for enrollment and success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs in higher education. We develop a sequential logit model in which students enroll in STEM education, may drop out from STEM higher education, or continue studying until they graduate in an STEM field. We use rich Dutch register data on student characteristics and high school exam grades to explain the differences in enrollment, success, and dropout rates. Results: We find that females are less likely to enroll in STEM-related fields, while students with higher high school mathematics grades are more likely to enroll in STEM. Female students have lower first-year dropout rates at university of applied sciences STEM programs. With respect to study success, we find that conditional on enrollment in STEM, women are less likely to graduate than men within the nominal duration or the nominal duration plus one additional year. However, female students do perform equally well as male students in terms of graduation within 10 years. Conclusions: We conclude that STEM programs are less popular among female students and that female students are less likely to graduate on time. However, females perform equally well in STEM higher education in the long run. For this reason, policy should be geared at increasing study success in terms of nominal graduation rates among female STEM students. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01