Community colleges are becoming increasingly relevant as an entrance point into postsecondary education for potential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. These institutions are also an important education pathway for women and racial/ethnic minorities who are currently underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The purpose of this study is to understand how student demographics, high school, and college experiences influence the entrance of community college students to the STEM college majors. Data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) were used for the study. Students included in the study began their postsecondary education at community colleges. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the impact of student demographics, high school, and college experience on the choice of STEM college major. The findings of this study suggest gender, race/ethnicity, academic preparation, and interest in STEM fields upon entering college influence the choice of STEM major by community college students.
","abstract_html":"<p>Community colleges are becoming increasingly relevant as an entrance point into postsecondary education for potential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. These institutions are also an important education pathway for women and racial/ethnic minorities who are currently underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The purpose of this study is to understand how student demographics, high school, and college experiences influence the entrance of community college students to the STEM college majors. Data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) were used for the study. Students included in the study began their postsecondary education at community colleges. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the impact of student demographics, high school, and college experience on the choice of STEM college major. The findings of this study suggest gender, race/ethnicity, academic preparation, and interest in STEM fields upon entering college influence the choice of STEM major by community college students.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Evans, Colleen"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education Leadership, Management and Policy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Rong Chen","Martin Finkelstein","Eunyoung Kim"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-10-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-10-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:45Z","subjects":["Community colleges","science","technology","mathematics","major choice","Community College Education Administration","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/1917","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Rong Chen","Martin Finkelstein","Eunyoung Kim"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Evans, Colleen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-12-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education Leadership, Management and Policy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Community colleges","science","technology","mathematics","major choice","Community College Education Administration","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/1917"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Community colleges are becoming increasingly relevant as an entrance point into postsecondary education for potential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. These institutions are also an important education pathway for women and racial/ethnic minorities who are currently underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The purpose of this study is to understand how student demographics, high school, and college experiences influence the entrance of community college students to the STEM college majors. Data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) were used for the study. Students included in the study began their postsecondary education at community colleges. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the impact of student demographics, high school, and college experience on the choice of STEM college major. The findings of this study suggest gender, race/ethnicity, academic preparation, and interest in STEM fields upon entering college influence the choice of STEM major by community college students.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring Community Colleges in the Stem Education Landscape : development of stem college major choice model"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Rong Chen","Martin Finkelstein","Eunyoung Kim"],"dc:creator":["Evans, Colleen"],"dc:date.available":["2013-12-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Community colleges are becoming increasingly relevant as an entrance point into postsecondary education for potential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. These institutions are also an important education pathway for women and racial/ethnic minorities who are currently underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The purpose of this study is to understand how student demographics, high school, and college experiences influence the entrance of community college students to the STEM college majors. Data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) were used for the study. Students included in the study began their postsecondary education at community colleges. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the impact of student demographics, high school, and college experience on the choice of STEM college major. The findings of this study suggest gender, race/ethnicity, academic preparation, and interest in STEM fields upon entering college influence the choice of STEM major by community college students.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/1917"],"dc:subject":["Community colleges","science","technology","mathematics","major choice","Community College Education Administration","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Exploring Community Colleges in the Stem Education Landscape : development of stem college major choice model"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education Leadership, Management and Policy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD Higher Education Leadership, Management, Policy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:45Z"}