High school GPAs (HSGPAs) are often perceived to represent inconsistent levels of readiness for college across high schools, whereas test scores (e.g., ACT scores) are seen as comparable. This stud...

High School GPAs and ACT Scores as Predictors of College Completion: Examining Assumptions about Consistency across High Schools.

ABSTRACT Despite several decades of postsecondary expansion, new research finds youth from northern and rural areas in Canada still experience difficulties making the transition to postsecondary education, and those who do attend take longer to do so. Proximity, we argue, may also have a considerable impact on one’s field selection, as many of Canada’s larger universities and colleges, who offer considerably more program and degree options, tend to be concentrated in large, urban centers, and in the southern regions of Canada’s provinces. This study draws on Cycles 1–4 of Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey – Cohort A to examine regional inequalities in accessing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related fields at both the university and non-university levels. Indeed, our findings suggest that location of residence does impact field choices, as students from northern and rural areas were less likely to enter STEM as well as non-STEM, university programs.

Roots and Stems? Examining Field of Study Choices Among Northern and Rural Youth in Canada

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AP STEM Course-Taking and College STEM Major Selection: An Examination of the Relationship and How It Differs by Gender and Race/Ethnicity.

How standardized testing affects students’ college readiness in Texas

https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4129&context=cais

Getting Information Systems Programs Classified as STEM: A U.S.-based Perspective from an AIS Task Force Study and Panel Discussion

Rural students account for almost 20% of the US K-12 students, but rural context varies from state to state. This study uses a statewide longitudinal sample (N = 3,119) to analyze college enrollment and STEM major choice patterns of Montana’s public high school students in the academic years of 2013-2017. The binary logistic regressions showed that Montanan students are more likely to enroll into a 4-year institution than a 2-year institution. Also, students enrolled at a 4-year institution are more likely to consider STEM majors than students at a 2-year institution. Although high school GPA and ACT STEM scores are strong predictors for both college enrollment and STEM major choice, findings for race/ethnicity, gender, and free or reduced-price lunch status varied across the two outcomes. Specifically, race/ethnicity contributes to variation in college enrollment, but not STEM major choice. Similarly, free or reduced-price lunch status in high school is predictive of college enrollment, but not for STEM major choice. Although there was no difference in college enrollment type for gender, male students are more likely to select a STEM major, and this trend occurs at a rate of three times higher at a 4-year institution versus a 2-year institution. Our findings provide additional nuances of rural students, contributing to the understanding of their college enrollment and STEM major choices in the context of Montana - a large geographic, low populous state - which has received less attention than urban and high-density states.

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Fenqjen Luo

Papers

College Enrollment and STEM Major Choice in a Rural State: A Statewide Examination of Recent High School Cohorts

Preservice teachers’ perspectives on technology integration in kindergarten through eighth grade mathematics