TY - JOUR
T1 - Institutional Selectivity and Occupational Outcomes for STEM Graduates
T2 - A Generational Comparison
AU - Kim, Jeongeun
AU - Jung, Jiwon
AU - Mlambo, Yeukai Angela
N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by a grant from the American Educational Research Association which receives funds for its “AERA Grants Program” from the National Science Foundation under NSF award NSF-DRL #1749275. Opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AERA or NSF. The authors also would like to recognize additional support provided by Arizona State University’s Center for Organization Research and Design and Dr. Stuart Bretschneider. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Ohio State University.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - To increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, U.S. education policy has emphasized the pathways from education to STEM careers. While some scholars argue that employers prioritize the degree, and not institutional affiliation, in hiring graduates, the argument needs to be warranted with more recent data accounting for the changing market structure. Furthermore, some studies found that having a STEM degree matters more than institutional selectivity, particularly for occupational outcomes of women and racial minorities. Yet there is slim empirical evidence to support this conclusion. Using data from the National Survey of Recent College Graduates, we examine how occupational outcomes are different for different STEM degrees generated by different selectivity of institutions for those who graduated in the 1990s, early and mid-2000s, and late 2000s. Female graduates, although they entered the industry and STEM fields at no different levels from their male counterparts, still earned significantly lower wages. However, we found that the value of institutional selectivity changes over time as it moderates the gender wage gaps in the late 2000s. Minority STEM graduates enjoyed similar salaries to nonminority graduates, but retention in STEM fields after graduation was less likely, but also moderated by the institutional selectivity.
AB - To increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, U.S. education policy has emphasized the pathways from education to STEM careers. While some scholars argue that employers prioritize the degree, and not institutional affiliation, in hiring graduates, the argument needs to be warranted with more recent data accounting for the changing market structure. Furthermore, some studies found that having a STEM degree matters more than institutional selectivity, particularly for occupational outcomes of women and racial minorities. Yet there is slim empirical evidence to support this conclusion. Using data from the National Survey of Recent College Graduates, we examine how occupational outcomes are different for different STEM degrees generated by different selectivity of institutions for those who graduated in the 1990s, early and mid-2000s, and late 2000s. Female graduates, although they entered the industry and STEM fields at no different levels from their male counterparts, still earned significantly lower wages. However, we found that the value of institutional selectivity changes over time as it moderates the gender wage gaps in the late 2000s. Minority STEM graduates enjoyed similar salaries to nonminority graduates, but retention in STEM fields after graduation was less likely, but also moderated by the institutional selectivity.
KW - Occupational outcomes
KW - STEM workforce
KW - engineering and math (STEM)
KW - institutional selectivity
KW - science
KW - technology
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U2 - 10.1080/00221546.2020.1819945
DO - 10.1080/00221546.2020.1819945
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-1546
VL - 92
SP - 435
EP - 464
JO - Journal of Higher Education
JF - Journal of Higher Education
IS - 3
ER -