+ Making It!... Or Not: Institutional Contexts & Biomedical Degree Attainment Tanya Figueroa, Sylvia Hurtado, and Kevin Eagan UCLA Association for Institutional Research May 2013 Long Beach, California.
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Transcript + Making It!... Or Not: Institutional Contexts & Biomedical Degree Attainment Tanya Figueroa, Sylvia Hurtado, and Kevin Eagan UCLA Association for Institutional Research May 2013 Long Beach, California.
+
Making It!...
Or Not:
Institutional
Contexts &
Biomedical
Degree
Attainment
Tanya Figueroa, Sylvia Hurtado, and Kevin Eagan
UCLA
Association for Institutional Research
May 2013
Long Beach, California
+
Problem
A
need for one million additional STEM
degrees in the next decade.
URM
students more likely to leave the
sciences
Despite
equal initial interest in science & higher
degree aspirations
Individual
factors alone do not account for
completion differences.
Some
institutions do a better job!
+
Purpose
To
identify the institutional and aggregate
faculty characteristics that contribute to
higher rates of degree completion in the
biomedical sciences controlling for
students’ entering characteristics
+ To understand experiences we must examine the environment
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Methodology – Data Sources
2004
CIRP Freshman Survey
aggregated student-level variables
Student
degree and enrollment data from
the National Student Clearinghouse
Institutional
data from Integrated
Postsecondary Educational Data System
2011
Best Practices in STEM survey
Aggregate data from the 2007 & 2010 HERI
Faculty Surveys
+
Analysis
Final
Sample: 30,614 biomedical science
aspirants across 296 four-year colleges and
universities.
Weighted
Missing
Data
Data
Analysis: Multinomial
software)
HGLM (HLM
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Dependent Variable
Three-part
categorical variable measured
at the 4th and 6th year:
1)
Completed a bachelor’s degree in the
biomedical sciences
2) Completed a bachelor’s degree in a field
that is not in the biomedical sciences
3) Did not complete a bachelor’s degree at all
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Independent Variables – Student
Level
Background
characteristics
Prior preparation
Precollege experiences
Entering aspirations and expectations
Intended major
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Independent Variables – Institution
Level
Aggregate
peer effects
Institutional characteristics:
Size, type, selectivity, HBCU/PWI/HSI
Faculty contextual measures
Best practices in STEM
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Limitations
Self-reported
No
major
control for college experiences
Secondary
data
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Descriptive Statistics
Dependent Variable
Completed biomedical
degree in four and six years
27.8% jumps to 38.1%
Completed degree in other
field
19.4% jumps to 33.6%
Did not complete
52.8% decreases to 28.3%
Demographics
Sex: Female
69%
American Indian
2%
Other race
2%
Latino/a
7%
Black
10%
Asian/Pacific Islander
14%
White
64%
+ Biomedical Science Completion versus NonBiomedical Science Completion in the 6th
year
Institutional Characteristics
Emerging HSI
+
Size (full-time enrollment)
-
Background Characteristics
Asian American or Pacific Islander
+
Other race
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Either parent has a STEM-related
occupation
Native English speaker
+
-
+ Biomedical Science Completion versus NonBiomedical Science Completion in the 6th
year
Prior Preparation
Average high school GPA
Student-centered pedagogy factor
+
+
SAT composite score (100)
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Years of HS study: Mathematics
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Years of HS study: Biological science
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Pre-college Experiences
Felt overwhelmed by all I had to do
-
Socialized with different ethnic group
-
Studying or homework
+
Community service: Hospital work
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+ Biomedical Science Completion versus NonBiomedical Science Completion in the 6th
year
Entering Aspirations and Expectations
Communicate regularly with professors
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TFS Academic Self-Concept
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Ph.D./Ed.D. degree aspiration
+
Medical degree aspiration
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Grading on a curve
-
Selectivity (100)
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TFS Social Self-Concept Score
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Intended Major
Nursing
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Pharmacy
-
MD, Dentistry, or Veterinary Medicine
-
+ Biomedical Science Completion versus No
Completion
Institutional
Emerging HSI
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Selectivity (100)
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Research/Doctoral (ref. masters
comp.)
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Background Characteristics
Other Race
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Sex: Female
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Mother’s education
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Native American
-
Latino
-
Low Income (under $24,999)
-
Low Middle Income ($25K-49,999)
-
Native English speaker
-
+ Biomedical Science Completion versus No
Completion
Prior Preparation
Average HS GPA
+
SAT composite score (100)
+
Years of HS study: Mathematics
+
Years of HS study: Biological
science
+
Pre-college Experiences
Studying or homework
+
Community service: Hospital
work
+
Biomedical
Science
Completion
versus
No
+
Completion
Entering Aspirations and
Expectations
Communicate regularly with
professors
+
TFS Academic Self-Concept
+
Masters degree aspiration
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Plan to live on campus
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Work full-time while attending
college
-
TFS Social Self-Concept Score
-
Medical degree aspiration *
Selectivity (100)
-
Intended Major
Pharmacy
-
MD, Dentistry, or Veterinary
Medicine Aspirant
-
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Discussion
Institutional contexts matter!
Emerging
HSIs and HBCUs
strong producers of
biomed degrees
Large institutions weaker
producers
Role of peer normative
context (i.e. selectivity)
+
Discussion & Implications
The
important role of student
Socioeconomic background
Race/ethnicity
Sex
Native language
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What else matters in producing
biomedical science graduates?
Faculty
grading procedures
Pedagogical
approach
Contact Us!
Faculty/Co-PIs:
Sylvia Hurtado
Mitchell Chang
Kevin Eagan
Postdoctoral Scholars:
Josephine Gasiewski
Administrative
Staff:
Dominique
Harrison
Graduate Research Assistants:
Tanya Figueroa
Gina Garcia
Juan Garibay
Bryce Hughes
Papers and reports are available for download from project website:
http://heri.ucla.edu/nih
Project e-mail: [email protected]
This study was made possible by the support of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant Numbers 1 R01
GMO71968-01 and R01 GMO71968-05, the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant Number 0757076, and the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Grant 1RC1GM090776-01. This
independent research and the views expressed here do not indicate endorsement by the sponsors.