Willie Pearson

Pathways to an Engineering Career

Utilizing data from the 20-year record of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), this analysis uses a set of variables to predict employment in engineering for a national sample of adults aged 34 to 37. The LSAY is one of the longest longitudinal studies of the impact of secondary education and postsecondary education conducted in the United States. A structural equation model found that mathematics is a primary gateway to an engineering career, beginning with algebra track placement in Grades 7 and 8 and continuing through high school and college calculus courses. Home and family factors such as parent education and parent encouragement of science and mathematics during secondary school also enhanced the likelihood of a young adult becoming a professional engineer. In addition, young men were substantially more likely to become professional engineers than young women. Considering each of these factors, this article seeks to understand the varied pathways available to students interested in engineering careers.

An International Perspective on Advancing Women in Science

Many countries have implemented policies to increase the number and quality of scientific researchers as a means to foster innovation and spur economic development. In many cases, policy interventions have sought to increase participation by those who have traditionally been underrepresented in science, with particular reference to women. Today, even in countries with persistently strong patriarchal regimes, the extension of educational opportunities to women has been framed as a means of making better use of the potential pool of science and engineering innovators (Bielli et al. 2004; UNESCO 2007, 2010; CNRS 2004; NRC 2011). Women and also, in many countries, members of ethnic minority groups traditionally have been limited in access to high-quality education, with concomitant occupational outcomes. Positing the importance of education to development and progress, universal primary education is one of the United Nation’s eight Millennium Development Goals. However, participation in the scientific workforce necessitates education far beyond the primary level—an expensive enterprise, and one in which girls and women have been persistently disadvantaged.

Pathways to STEMM Professions for Students From Noncollege Homes

In this article we use data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth to examine the influence of parent education on pathways to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) professions. Building on a general model of factors related to STEMM education and employment, we employ a two-group structural equation model to examine the factors that predict enrollment in a postsecondary STEMM program and employment as a STEMM professional. The results of this analysis indicate that most of the variables in the two models function in a similar manner, but the levels of parental encouragement, help, and direction vary significantly between college-educated and non-college-educated families. The children of non-college-educated parents were less likely to take algebra in Grade 8, take calculus in high school, and take calculus in college than were the children of college-educated parents. Young adults that grew up in noncollege families were less likely to enter postsecondary education; more likely to begin postsecondary education at a community college; less likely to earn a baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree; and less likely to become a STEMM professional. The analysis reveals a clear pattern of cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage, and the final section of this article discusses the need for educational and public policy leaders to develop strategies and programs to address the substantial differential associated with parent education.

Āwhina Revolution: A Bayesian Analysis of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Completion Rates from a Program for Māori and Pacific Success in STEM Disciplines

Te Rōpū Āwhina (Āwhina), an equity initiative in a New Zealand university, aimed to produce Māori and Pacific science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professionals who contribute to Māori and Pacific community development and leadership. Standardized completion rates for 3-year undergraduate and 2-year postgraduate degree students were consistent with a positive Āwhina effect.

International Status of Women in the Chemical Sciences

Globally, the participation and advancement of women chemical scientists as they progress through higher education and their careers continue to lag behind those of their male colleagues (National Science Foundation (NSF), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) 2013a, 2013b, 2013c; National Research Council 2007; Marzabadi et al. 2006; NRC 2006a; Royal Society of Chemistry 2008). Gender disparities also persist in pay, promotion rates, access to certain areas of specialization in research funding and engagement, and key leadership positions. The issue has become one of increasing concern among many nations that frame the underrepresentation of women in chemistry and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields as a threat to their country’s global economic competitiveness (Osborn et al. 2000; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2007; Goulden et al. 2009; Pearson and Fechter 1994). In the United States, despite maintaining global leadership in chemistry for some time, increased competition from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and some Asian countries—all of which are all making more-strategic investments in chemistry research and in training—pose a growing concern for policy-makers and employers (NRC 2006b).

Advancing Women in Science

A Comprehensive National Approach to Promote Gender Equality in Science : The Case of Norway