CAREER: Understanding and Reducing Inequality in the Returns to K-12 STEM for College and Early Career Outcomes

Whether individuals have science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills has become increasingly consequential for their life chances in today's knowledge economy. Using statewide administrative data from Texas, this study will investigate high school students' utilization of the state's "STEM endorsement" - an optional credential passed into state law in 2013 indicating a student has completed additional STEM coursework beyond minimum graduation requirements - and their pathways following the endorsement into college (for those who attend) and the labor market. The study will also assess potential differences in uptake of, and pathways following, the STEM endorsement between geographic (e.g., urban vs rural); socioeconomic; and demographic groups within the state. Results will provide the first long-range evaluation of this distinctive STEM educational opportunity. Texas's STEM endorsement represents a policy-relevant case for examining the impact of students' K-12 STEM preparation on their college and workforce pathways, as increasing numbers of states and school districts consider implementing college- and workforce-legible STEM credentials of this type. Considering the graduating classes of 2018-2023, this study's research population includes approximately 2 million high school graduates. Descriptive analyses will tabulate Texas high schoolers' uptake of the STEM endorsement, changes in this uptake between the graduating classes of 2018-2023, and potential differences in uptake by students' background characteristics, as well as compare students who completed the STEM endorsement versus not across the outcomes of a) high school math and science coursetaking, b) math and science test scores in 12th grade, c) two- and four-year college attendance, d) declaration and completion of STEM majors, e) entry into STEM occupations, and f) wages. Explanatory results will rely on regression analysis to investigate whether and to what extent 1) differences in the uptake of the STEM endorsement versus not and 2) differences in college and career pathways (a-f, above) among students who completed the STEM endorsement are accounted for by factors including students' pre-high-school characteristics, such as their K-8 math and science test scores, as well as characteristics of their K-8 schools, such as math and science course offerings. This project will also see the implementation and evaluation of an online course plug-in to help undergraduate college students emphasize their STEM skills and link their courses of study to careers, focusing on the discipline of Sociology. Better linking undergraduate social science fields to STEM workforce opportunities is a way to tap into an overlooked source of STEM talent. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.