{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/80130"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/80130","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Rethinking the STEM Fields: The Importance of Definitions in Examining Women's Participation and Success in the Sciences","abstract":"This study uses longitudinal data of undergraduate students from five public land-grant universities to better understand undergraduate students' persistence in and switching of majors, with particular attention given to women's participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Specifically, the study examines patterns of behavior of women and minorities in relation to initial choice of college major and major field persistence, as well as what majors students switched to upon changing majors. Factors that impact major field persistence are also examined, as well as how switching majors affects students' time-to-degree. Using a broad definition of STEM, data from nearly 17,000 undergraduate students was analyzed with descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and binary logistic regressions. The results highlight women's high levels of participation and success in the sciences, challenging common notions of underrepresentation in the STEM fields. The study calls for researchers to use a comprehensive definition of STEM and broad measurements of persistence when investigating students' participation in the STEM fields.","abstract_html":"This study uses longitudinal data of undergraduate students from five public land-grant universities to better understand undergraduate students' persistence in and switching of majors, with particular attention given to women's participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Specifically, the study examines patterns of behavior of women and minorities in relation to initial choice of college major and major field persistence, as well as what majors students switched to upon changing majors. Factors that impact major field persistence are also examined, as well as how switching majors affects students' time-to-degree. Using a broad definition of STEM, data from nearly 17,000 undergraduate students was analyzed with descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and binary logistic regressions. The results highlight women's high levels of participation and success in the sciences, challenging common notions of underrepresentation in the STEM fields. The study calls for researchers to use a comprehensive definition of STEM and broad measurements of persistence when investigating students' participation in the STEM fields.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["George-Jackson, Casey Elizabeth"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Policy Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Trent, William T."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-25T19:55:36Z","date_published":"2015-09-25T19:55:36Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:13Z","subjects":["Women's Studies"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["(MiAaPQ)AAI3406828"],"render_values":[{"text":"(MiAaPQ)AAI3406828","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/80130","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Trent, William T."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["George-Jackson, Casey Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-25T19:55:36Z","10000-01-01","2009"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Policy Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/80130","(MiAaPQ)AAI3406828"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This study uses longitudinal data of undergraduate students from five public land-grant universities to better understand undergraduate students' persistence in and switching of majors, with particular attention given to women's participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Specifically, the study examines patterns of behavior of women and minorities in relation to initial choice of college major and major field persistence, as well as what majors students switched to upon changing majors. Factors that impact major field persistence are also examined, as well as how switching majors affects students' time-to-degree. Using a broad definition of STEM, data from nearly 17,000 undergraduate students was analyzed with descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and binary logistic regressions. The results highlight women's high levels of participation and success in the sciences, challenging common notions of underrepresentation in the STEM fields. The study calls for researchers to use a comprehensive definition of STEM and broad measurements of persistence when investigating students' participation in the STEM fields.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T19:55:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4848 bytes, checksum: 96035ab3f5e1c23cc7138a224ce498bd (MD5) 3406828.pdf: 4249066 bytes, checksum: 598c2a42f22996dde19b36c43356801f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 81412 Lift date: Forever Reason: Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","U of I Only","194 p.","Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Rethinking the STEM Fields: The Importance of Definitions in Examining Women's Participation and Success in the Sciences"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Trent, William T."],"dc:creator":["George-Jackson, Casey Elizabeth"],"dc:date":["2015-09-25T19:55:36Z","10000-01-01","2009"],"dc:description":["This study uses longitudinal data of undergraduate students from five public land-grant universities to better understand undergraduate students' persistence in and switching of majors, with particular attention given to women's participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Specifically, the study examines patterns of behavior of women and minorities in relation to initial choice of college major and major field persistence, as well as what majors students switched to upon changing majors. Factors that impact major field persistence are also examined, as well as how switching majors affects students' time-to-degree. Using a broad definition of STEM, data from nearly 17,000 undergraduate students was analyzed with descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and binary logistic regressions. The results highlight women's high levels of participation and success in the sciences, challenging common notions of underrepresentation in the STEM fields. The study calls for researchers to use a comprehensive definition of STEM and broad measurements of persistence when investigating students' participation in the STEM fields.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T19:55:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4848 bytes, checksum: 96035ab3f5e1c23cc7138a224ce498bd (MD5) 3406828.pdf: 4249066 bytes, checksum: 598c2a42f22996dde19b36c43356801f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 81412 Lift date: Forever Reason: Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","U of I Only","194 p.","Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009."],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/80130","(MiAaPQ)AAI3406828"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:subject":["Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Rethinking the STEM Fields: The Importance of Definitions in Examining Women's Participation and Success in the Sciences"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Policy Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:13Z"}