The STEM Enrollment Boom

[FarCenter]

Using data collected by UCLA, Jacobs and Sax write that from 1997 through 2005, the proportion of freshmen planning to enroll in STEM fields declined, hitting a low in 2005 of 20.7 percent. After modest gains in 2006 and 2007, real increases started to show up in 2008. The percentage of freshmen planning to major in STEM increased from 21.1 percent in 2007 to 28.2 percent in 2011, just as the recession was prompting many students and families to focus on the job potential of various fields of study. That represents a 48 percent increase in just a few years.

The growth was not consistent across STEM fields. Engineering saw a 57.1 percent increase (consistent with findings from the American Society for Engineering Education) and biology saw gains of 28.2 percent. But the physical sciences saw gains of 11.1 percent, and mathematics was up by 12.6 percent.

Generally, the STEM gains were seen for both male and female students, so gender gaps that remain in some STEM fields weren’t significantly changed.

The paper notes that disciplines such as biology and mathematics, while STEM fields, are located in arts and sciences at many institutions, so that a “STEM vs. liberal arts” comparison doesn’t make sense.

But the fields showing declines during this period were not traditional liberal arts fields, but applied fields. The paper notes that business and education saw declines of 5.9 percent, suggesting that they – more than the liberal arts -- are losing freshmen.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/07/study-finds-increased-stem-enrollment-recession
Inside Higher Ed

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. And BabyGirl 1SBM ...

is a part of that boom ... Double Major: Chem/Bio! She probably would have been a Math major had she not have been turned off to math by a sub-literate (in English) Algebra II teacher (back in the 6th grade) that truly believed that Black kids, especially Black girls, could not excel in math.

[FarCenter]

3. Depending on her specialty, a Chem/Bio major should be taking at least 3 years of college math.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. She's planning on ...

Vet School, or believe it or not, Med School as her Plan B.

(I didn't know until recently, that Vet School is more difficult to get into, rather Med School. I've met 3 MDs, that claim their 1st choice was Vet School.)

[LibertyLover]

2. My 11 year old daughter is in STEM in middle school

and has for the longest time when asked what she wants to do as an adult replied that she wants to work for NASA like her cousins. I am so proud!