Melfried Olson

Mathematical Preparation versus Career Aspirations: Sex-Related Differences among College-Bound Wyoming High School Seniors.

Students from a broad range of fields of study at the University of Wyoming have commented that the mathematics courses required for completion of their college programs were posing serious obstacles. When questioned, the students report that they terminated their study of precollege mathematics as early as possible on the assumption(s) that no mathematics was required for the fields they wished to enter and/or that college mathematics courses were available wherein they could correct any mathematical shortcomings. For many students, both assumptions proved erroneous. This study gathered paired information regarding the precollege mathematical preparation and the occupational aspirations of students entering the University of Wyoming. That information has provided (a) a general description of the mathematical programs pursued by students in Wyomings public schools, (b) an evaluation of the adequacy of the high school mathematical preparation of college-bound students relative to the occupational aspirations (99 fields) of those students, and (c) a measure of the extent to which students were aware of the adequacy of that preparation. Each set of data was broken out along the dimension of sex. The results of the stratified, intact groups sampling procedure employed is given in Table 1. Wyomings 73 public high schools were divided into five groups based on the size of the senior class. A 70% random sample of schools was taken within each group, the senior population of a group sampling being proportional to the number of Wyoming seniors attending schools of that group size. The survey instrument was administered with approximately 3 weeks of school remaining for the year; the 2010 completed instruments accounted for about 32% of Wyomings 6380 seniors.