Differentiating Rural Locale Factors Related to Students Choosing and Persisting in STEM

Autor/inn/en	Darrah, Marjorie; Humbert, Roxann; Howley, Caitlin
Titel	Differentiating Rural Locale Factors Related to Students Choosing and Persisting in STEM
Quelle	In: Research in Higher Education Journal, 42 (2022), (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Schlagwörter	Rural Areas; STEM Education; Majors (Students); Academic Persistence; Decision Making; Rural Urban Differences; Counties; Success; Classification; Geographic Regions; West Virginia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; STEM; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Stadt-Land-Beziehung; Erfolg; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem
Abstract	For the growing worldwide economy to be successful, science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) workers are needed. Once recruited to pursue a STEM major, the challenge is keeping these students on track. A large diverse workforce is needed in these fields, but past research has shown students from rural settings are disadvantaged when attending college. It is difficult to look at differences of rural vs. urban to determine whether these settings have any impact on a students' decisions to declare and persist in a STEM major. Many states have large portions considered rural, Maine (61.3 percent), Vermont (61.1 percent), West Virginia (51.3 percent) (World Population Review, 2022). In states like these, it is hard to differentiate rural and urban settings since much of the state is rural. This study attempts to look at locales in a way that classifies them, not by population or proximity to urban settings, but by other factors that may affect students related to STEM persistence. This case study is the state of West Virginia and cluster analysis is used to develop Locale Codes (LC) to differentiate counties based on a variety of factors, including declaring and persisting in a STEM major. The findings show some counties have a higher percentage of students declaring STEM, but these students are less successful in college than other counties that have proportionally fewer students declaring STEM. The factors related to the locale that contribute to these differences are examined. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Academic and Business Research Institute. 147 Medjool Trail, Ponte Vedra, FL 32081. Tel: 904-435-4330; e-mail: editorial.staff@aabri.com; Web site: http://www.aabri.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01