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Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? by M Suzanne Franco, Ed.D., Nimisha H. Patel, Ph.D., and Jill Lindsey, Ph.D. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio ABSTRACT This study compared the career skills and inter 44% of STEM school students hold STEM-re ests for students in two STEM schools to nation lated career intents, and these intents resulted in al data. Students completed the KUDER skills more than half of the School B STEM school assessment and career planning online tools. students majoring in STEM fields in college Results were compared across school, grade (School A will graduate its first class in 2013). level, and sex. The results provided evidence This is double the national percentage of high that STEM high school students expressed ca schools graduates pursuing STEM-related col reer intents in predominately STEM- related ca lege studies, suggesting that STEM high school reers at twice the national rate. Between 42 and students are entering the STEM pipeline. THE WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOWGY, ENGI ganizations to increase the number of graduates prepared neering, and math (STEM) trained professionals has fos to enter the STEM pipeline. Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, tered a plethora of responses within the United States as North Carolina, New York, and Maryland are a few states STEM-based economic activities increase. At first, the that have STEM initiatives, many of which are funded by national response focused on initiatives to support more the Gates foundations or the National Governors Asso college graduates in STEM programs (Kuenzi, 2008). Be ciation (NGA) (The National Network of STEM States, cause the results were not encouraging, initiatives emerged n.d.). The goal is to create a National STEM Learning Net to increase the number of high school students entering work as a clearinghouse for advancing STEM policies, best pathways for STEM professions, sometimes referred to as practices, and industry alignment (Miller, 2009). the STEM pipeline. The focus on increasing high school Longitudinal studies about STEM high schools' impact on graduates' STEM interests and skills within the United the number of STEM-trained college graduates have not States is documented in federal and state initiatives (Amer yet been published. Legislation and policies are predicat ica COMPETES, 2007; Battelle, 2002; Kuenzi, 2008; Na ed upon the hope that the availability of STEM-focused tional Science Foundation, 2007). One response to the high schools will increase the percentage of high school initiatives is the creation of STEM specialty high schools. Though high school reform is not a new concept, the de students who enter the pipeline anticipating a STEM ca velopment of STEM-focused high schools is relatively new. reer and exit the pipeline as STEM professionals. Indeed, In 2007 there were only 100 such schools throughout the it is during high school that students begin to differenti country (Atkinson, Hugo, Lundgren, Shapiro, & Thomas, ate career intents. Career aspirations emerge in the middle 2007; Subotnik, Tai, Rickoff, & A1marode, 2010; Thomas school years but are not fully formed until late in the high & Williams, 2010); as of 2011, there has been an emer school experiences (Low, Yoon, Roberts, & Rounds, 2005). gence of many more STEM specialty schools, including Tai, Liu, Maltese, and Fan (2006) studied the career paths charter schools, as well as STEM schools within traditional of grade 8 students and found that roughly half of grade schools. Furthermore, individual states have launched or- 8 students who expected to participate in a science-based 14 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue I career actually did study science at the postsecondary level. field. Students enter the STEM pipellw: at high school The result provided evidence that there is interest in STEM graduation and exit the pipeline as STEM professionals. careers at early ages; but do STEM schools further devel~ For the remainder of this paper, the authors will refer to op these interests? To investigate the question, this study degree completion, career interests and career clusters (a compared the career sld11s and interests for students in two distinct grouping of occupations and industries based on STEM schools to national data. the knowledge and skill. they require), rather than entering the pipeline because the actions are more descriptive of the postsecondary actions and decisions. LITERATURE REVIEW STEM High Schools Research suggests that exposure to STEM content within the traditional high school (HS) experience does not guar~ STEM schools deliver state-mandated HS content with a antee students will become STEM professionals. Thomas focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. Gen~ (2000) compared the majors of college graduates who at~ era11y speaking, STEM schools employ an inquiry·based tended a STEM HS to national percentages of college ma~ instructional framework with interdisciplinary content de jors collected by the National Center for Education Statis livery. Students work in either collaborative or cooperative tics (NCES) in 1992-1993. National results indicated that groups to solve problems. The problems are non-trivial and 3% of college-attending traditional HS graduates majored are generated either from students' personal intc:rests and/ in math or computer science. Meanwhile, 10% of students or from community issues. Consequently, students are more who graduated from a STEM HS and attended college ma~ likely to be invested personaI1y in solving the problem; their jared in math or computer science. While the percentage engagement in and motivation for solving the problems are of STEM majors was three times greater for graduates of enhanced. The student-generated solutions are commonly STEM HSs, it is reasonable to expect the diffe:rence would presented to school stakeholders; subsequently, students be higher. Interestingly, graduate. of STEM HS. majored incorporate stakeholder feedback. into their final solution. in the science fields at twice the rate of graduates from tra~ As such, most STEM schools partner with local businesses ditional HS., 51% compared to 23%. andior Institotes of Higher Education (!HE) in order to provide personal connections between students and those The phrase 'enter the STEM pipeline' refers to a student with careers in a STEM field. Some STEM HSs offer early decl.aring intent in further education or a career in a STEM college credits or all college credit classes in the junior and senior years. Cueer education in Kl2 School. .-- It is said frequently that careers that will be available for -~- I today's high school graduates have not yet been creat ~, ed. As students join the workforce, their experience and '• 'r'" ' , •• I knowledge will shape new professions (Haberman & Ye ~it • • "f hezkeJ., 2008). Nonetheless, schools continue to provide " career education in varying degrees in the middle school V • t or high school. Ideally, students complete personal skills <P- . and interest inventories which map into distinct groupings of occupations and industries. The groupings are referred to as career clusters. From this activity, students can begin the process of exploring further the group of careers that "'" aJditioMl ~ pIAu< amt.ct In. S. ....... ""*"'" Pnmco lilt SIlZIlML~ght. • Dr. PrtmaJ iJ GIl matches their interests. ~ at Wrijlu _ um....uy...d aUo tIoe Career selection is a process that takes place over a peri _ ofllem=h...d E..u...t;on at Doyton Rq;oMl od of ten or more yeatS as a student matures (Low et at., STEMSdwoI. 2005). Parents, tea.che:rs, friends, and neighbors influence Me STEM High School Stodents Entering the STEM Pipeline? 15 the process, as do school counselors. Unfortunately, the ac Sixteen Career Clnsters tual time performing career counseling duties is minimal Agriculture Food and Natural Resources according to a state wide study of elementary, middle, and high school counselors (Osborn & Baggerly, 2004). Budget Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications challenges for education that cut or minimize counselor ac Business Mana. ...e nt aDd Administration cess along with the ever growing counselor responsibilities Education and Training associated with standardized testing and class scheduling IFiDaDcc contribute to this situation. Government and Public Administration Beyond time constraints, school counselor knowledge I Health Srience influences the ability to guide students in career explora Hospitality and Tourism tion. School counselors are not and cannot be experts on I all career opportunities. In fact, most school counselors Information 'Jlo:chno1ogy work with students to recoguize their personal skills and Law IMarketiDg interests and then direct students to additional resources for career options related to these interests (McWhirter, Manufacturing I Rasheed, & Crothers, 2000). In a study by McCuen and Public: Safety, Comctions, aDd Security Greenberg (2009), students reported that school counsel Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics I ors' lack of awareness of emerging STEM-related careers TransponatiOD had a negative impact on students pursuing postsecondary Figure 1. Sixteen career cl1l8ters STEM interests. Career Clusters example, a score close to 'R', 'Realistic', implies that the In 1996 the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the Of responder would be well placed in jobs such as mechanical fice of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), the Na and electrical specialties or engineering. A student with a tional School-to-Work Office (NSTWO), and the National scale score closer to'S', Social, would be well suited for Sk:i11 Standards Board (NSSB) collaborated tu develop 16 education or community services. The scales were final career clusters or groupings of similar careers (The 16 Ca ized by Holland and are sometimes referred to as the Hol reer Clusters, n.d.). The purpose was to assist students in land scales; they have been supported repeatedly in the planning for the transition from high school to careers or literature (Day & Rounds, 1998; Swaney, 1995). Holland higher education (The work suite: Career clusters, path (1997) posits a circular model for the RIASEC scale; R ways & specialties [thus], n.d.). The attraction for stan (realistic) is most similar to I (investigative) and C (con dardizing the career clusters was that the cluster names are ventional), less similar to A (artistic) and E (enterprising), familiar tu most students. For example, students can relate and least similar to S (social). Prediger (1982) posited that tu the career clusters of Education and Training or Health the RIASEC scales can be subsumed into two dimensions Science (See Figure 1). (Things/People and Data/Ideas) to characterize further the RIASEC profiles. One dimension identifies careers Career Planning Tools for Students as focusing on Things or People, such as Engineering for To assist students in familiarizing themselves with career Things, or Education for People; the second dimension is options related to their interests, numerous career inter named Data or Ideas, with Regulation or Financial careers est and planning tools have evolved. The ACT college related to Data and Arts or Social Sciences related to Ideas. entrance assessment offers a career exploration tool for Figure 2 includes a circular model depicting the RIASEC middle school students (EXPLORE) and for high school scales merged with career descriptions and Prediger's two students (PLAN for 10" graders and the ACT for II'" and dimensions. 12'" graders) (ACT, 2011). An informative career options Another resource that provides career interest and plan student report merges ACT academic achievement results ning services designed for students is KUDER, an online and self-reported interest inventories for each student. survey regarding student career skills and interest. The on ACT career interest analyses employ the RIASEC scales line tool is designed for students as early as grade 7 and for to identify interests: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, So adults at any point in a career (Kuder, 2010). Student skill cial, Enterprising, and Conventional (Swaney, 1995). For interest data is mapped to either the RIASEC or the 16 Ca- 16 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 ~ the 1()d' and 12111. grade more students identified careers that did not align with their interests. The research ers suggested that the change in interest-career congruency could be attributed to the major life decisions required in 121h grade regarding college/career choices; more career counseling dIorts in 12" grade may be warranted regard ing interest-career congruency. National Statistics for Bad1eIor Degrees Awarded In 2010 68% of the high school graduates enrolled in col lege and 90% were eorolled full tim< (US Department of o. fI~I_lng' Education NCES, 2011). Twenty-five percent of college . Techiolaglill. graduates received degrees in STEM fields. P. Ibtnl SCIIIDII • TII:~IOIDg!:1 Because higher education institutes have different require ments regarding when a student declares a major, it is not " easy to determine how many students begin their college career with the intent to major in a STEM field. The Na tional Survey of Studeot Engagement (NSSE) instruments Figure 2. The RIASEC KIIlcs merged with caRa" dacrlption.s arul Predip'. two dimculioDJ collect self-report data regarding college students' antici pated major fields of study. For 2010, first year college stu reel" Clusters. For this study, student responses to KUDER dents across the nation (n = 189,811) indicated that 25% assessments subsequently mapped to the 16 career clusters anticipated majoring in STEM fields (Biology, Engineer were used. ing, and Physics). Twenty percent of a 2010 sample of col = lege seniors (n 229,713) reported upcom:i:ng graduation StadeDt interest stability """" time in STEM fields (NSSE, lOll). Longitudinal. data from career planning tools have pro College degree attainment is a more reliable statistic than vided insights over tim< regarding stability and clumge of lIS student skills, interest, and anticipated careers. Tracey, anticipated college degree fields when determin:i:cg statis Robbins, and Hofs. .. (2005) analyzed natiooal ACT data tics regarding trends of STEM HS graduates entering the for students at the IJIII., 1()dt, and 12111. grades. 1'heresearchers STEM pipeline. For that reason the NCES data is prefeIled in descnbingthenumberof STEM graduates. In200S, 27% analyzed student academic scores and career interests. The results indicated that there was a genem1. upward trend in of the attained degrees were in STEM fields ranging from ACT academic scores for both sexes for all subjects over health to computer science to physics. This is very close the three assessments administered in the 8'1<, 1( )dt, and 12110 to the 26.9% STEM-related degrees awarded in 1998 (US Department of Education NCES, 2009b), indicating that grades. For career interests, the RIASEC scale scores also increased in magnitude over time, indicating more crys recent efforts have to be furthered to bring about more sub tallized interests. Girls' interests were stable. Interests for stantial changes. It is interesting to note that NCES 2008 boys clumged from the 10" grade to the 12" grade. data (27% STEM graduates) is close to the anticipated per centage (25%) reported by NSSE (2011). Interestingly, though, Tracey et aI. (2005) fuuod there was no relationship between academic scores and subsequent Sex Difference. regardlDg career interests or vice versa. For example, students with STEM-related College Majors high math scores did not necessarily indicate career in The percentage of college degrees awarded to males and terests in math-related careers. Students did exhibit more females was fairly constant between 1998 and 200S (US crystallization within career interests as they matriculated Department of Education NCES, 2009a). The degree field through HS; for example, instead of • broad math-re1ated that has experienced the largest female increase in the ten career, a student's interests na.r:rowed to electrical engineer year period is Security and Protective Services; the largest ing or physics. InteIest..career congruency, the match be decrease has been in Computer and Information Sciences, tween interest and career intent, was stable from grade S to a STEM-related field. In fact, the percentage of females 10 and less stable ~ grade 10 and 12. For example, awarded degrees in computer science and engineering de- Are STEM High School Studeots Eotcting the STEM Pipeline? 17 School 8" GradeN 9'" GradeN 10'" Grade N n"GradeN 12'" Grade N Total Sex F M F M F M F M F M SdIooIA 19 33 18 44 28 39 N/A N/A N/A N/A 181 SchoolB N/A N/A 31 34 41 34 21 21 23 36 241 TotalN S2 127 142 42 S9 422 Figure 3. Descriptifl' Statisti. . of Participants Across Grade Level and Sex clined between 1998 (27%) and 2008 (18%). Likewise, the taught at the school during junior and senior years. An percentage of females who received degrees in engineer educational council representing the entire region of local ing, computer science and biology during 2008 was small school districts operated the school. Students in each of the er than those awarded in 1998. In 2008, females had the participating districts applied for the STEM/Early College highest percentages of degrees in Family and Consumer program; admittance was based on a lottery system. School Sciences (87%); Health Profession (85%); and Public Ad B had graduated two classes. Over 50% of their graduates ministration and Social Services (82%). Females had the declared their major field of study in STEM-related fields. smallest representation in Engineering (16%) and Comput All students at each school were asked to participate in the er Science/Technology (18%). In contrast to the females, study. Participation rate was approximately 85%, with 422 males continued to dominate in the Engineering (82%), participants out of the 498 students enrolled across both Computer Science (73%) and Physical Science fields (60%) schools. Participant grade level and sex are presented in (US Department of Education NCES, 2009b). Figure 3. Summary Measures Historical data indicate that the numbers of students an To examine the research question, student skills and career ticipating and attaining STEM-related college degrees is intent were studied. For skills, the KUDER Skills Assess stagnant. STEM high schools are providing students with ment (KSAI6) maps students' skills within the framework skills that are necessary for success in STEM careers. The of the 16 career clusters desctibed previously. Participants question remains, though, whether today's STEM high provide one of the five following responses to 170 state school graduates are selecting STEM fields for careers or ments describing activities, such as 'planting a garden to higher education. This paper documents a comparison of make a salad': Cannot do at all; Slightly certain can do; historical national data regarding STEM Bachelor's degree Moderately certain can do; Very certain can do; and Com anticipation!a ttainment and two STEM high schools stu pletely certain can do. The internal consistency (Cronbach's dents' career interests and aspirations. alphas) of the KSAl6 are high (Zytowski, D'Achiardi, & Rottinghaus, n.d.), ranging from 0.78 to 0.85 for each clus METHODS ter. For career intent, the KUDER Career Survey (KCS) pr0- Participants vides data regarding the inventory-taker's similarity with Participants included students enrolled in either of two groups of employed people in the sixteen career clusters STEM schools in the same Midwestern state. At the time identified in Table 1. Students rank order responses to 60 of data collection, School A served students in grades 8-10. forced choice triads using Most-, Next Most-, and Least The school was in its second year and planned to add grade preferred as a ranking scale. The activities within each triad levels each year, eventually to serve students in grades 6-12. are described as a simple verb and an object, such as 'take The school represented students from 5 different counties dance lessons'. Cluster scores are generated by means of and over 30 school districts. Applicants were required to be a system of unique weights obtained by multiple regres on grade level. A lottery system was used to attain equal sion analyses of the attitude preference scales on cluster representation from each of three surrounding counties membership. Reliability studies indicate the instrument is and across sex. Over-representation was allowed from the both reliable and valid. Ihle-He11edy (2001) found Cron three original counties if openings remained. bach alphas for cluster scores ranging from .65 to .86 with School B was a STEM- focused, early college academy that a median of 0.77, and temporal reliabilities ranging be served students in grades 9-12. College level courses were tween 0.83 and 0.92, with a median of 0.87. Recent stud- 18 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 ies regarding the validity of the KCS found Career satisfactory concurrent validity evidence for Clnster GradeS Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 the majority of career clusters (Kelly, 2002; Hospitality 42% 31% 27% 37% 23% Zytowski, n.d.). Information 23% 27% 31% 37% 35% Students completed the online KSAI6 and KCS using school computers during two 50 Education 16% 22% 23% 7% 13% minute advisory periods in March, 2011; and Training those who did not complete the online assess- Figure 5. Percentage of Students Skillsets in Most Populated Career Clusten ments during advisory time completed the by Grade Le.d surveys at home using personal computers between April and May, 2011. Upon comple- tion, each student received a summary profile that included Students reported their current skillsets were focused in the suggested steps for continuing career exploration and links Hospitality and Tourism (31 %) and Information Technol for exploring options for additional career study. KUDER ogy (30%) clusters; the Education and Training was the provided summarized skill and career data by grade level, third highest populated (19%) cluster. Figure 4 contains the sex, and school to the authors. Microsoft Excel pivot tables percentages of students whose skillsets were mapped to the were created to investigate differences in skills and career three most populated career clusters. Skillset/Career clus intents by grade levels, sex, and school responses. ters mappings to 3 or fewer students are not reported caus ing the total percentages not to eqnal 100% in Figure 4. RESULTS Skills inventory by grade level The three clusters represented in Figure 4 were also the STEM career cluster and STEM careers most populated career clusters by grade level; however, the The STEM cluster within the 16 National Career Clusters percentage of students with skillsets mapped to the three Figure 1 includes jobs and careers focused in engineering; clusters varied with grade level (Figure 5). For example, the cluster does not represent all careers that require STEM Hospitality mappings decreased from 8'" grade (42%) to training. For this study, to better identify the sample's 12'" grade (23%) while Information Technology increased STEM career intents, the authors defined 'STEM-related' from 8'" grade (23%) to 12'" grade (35%). The third most careers to include Health Services, Architecture, Informa populated skillset cluster, Education and Training, re tion Technology, and Arts Audio-Video Technology and mained relatively consistent between 8'" and 12'" grade. Communications clusters. Given this expanded definition of STEM-related careers, the career interests of the major Career Cluster Boys Girls ity of the students in both schools were STEM-related. The Hospitality 22% 41% results are described in two sections: skills and careers. Information ~ 44% 13% Skills inventory Education and Training 11% 27% Skills inventory data represent students' responses about Figure 6. Percentage of Student Skillset Clusters by Sex their current skillsets. The skillsets are aggregated intu the 16 career clusters described previously. The skill clusters Skills by Sex identified from the student responses for the two schools Skillset mappings to career clusters are different when were similar; therefore, the results are reported for a merged summarized by sex (Table 5). Boys' self-reported skillsets dataset containing School A and School B responses. were mapped into Information Technology as first (44%); Percentage of students with Hospitality and Tourism as second (22%); and Education Career Cluster s1dllsets in Career Cluster and Training as third (11%). Girls' self-reported skillsets Hospitality 31% were mapped into Hospitality and Tourism as first (41 %); Education and Training as second (27%); and Information Education and Training 19"10 Technology as third (13%). The sex differences regarding skillset mapping to career clusters were consistent across Figure 4. Percentage Stodents with Skillsets in Most Populated Career Clusters all grade levels. Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? 19 GradeS Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Education & Trairung Business Human Services Manufacturing Manufacturing Finance Human Services Marketing Hospitality & Tourism Transportation Human Services Transportation Figure 7. Career CIusten not populated by Grade Levels Career clusters There were three career clusters heavily populated by girls in School B: Arts Audio-Video Technology and Commu Even though the top six career clusters were the same for nications (20%), Health Science (16%). and Agriculture both schools, the percent students mapped to the career (14%). For boys, the most frequent career clusters were: clusters differed. The top two career clusters for School A are STEM·related; the top three career clusters for School STEM (11%), Architecture (11 %), Information Technol B are STEM-related. The most frequently identified clus ogy (7%) and Health Science (7%). No girls in School B ter for School A is STEM; the most frequently identified were matched to the Information Technology cluster. cluster for School B is shared between STEM and Arts Au dio-Video Technology and Communications. The least fre DISCUSSION quently identified cluster for School A is Arts Audio-Video Technology and Communications; the least frequently Careers that require STEM skills are not limited to engi identified cluster for School B is Information Technology. neering; Architecture, Health Science, Audio-Video Tech nology and Information Technology career clusters are Career clusters by Grade part of a constellation of STEM-related careers. Using an There was no discermble trend regarding specific career expanded definition of STEM careers to include STEM clusters identified by grade levels. However, there was a related careers, girls and boys in this study were predomi slight trend regarding the number of career clusters rep nately matched to STEM careers with different career clus resented in each grade level. In grade 8, 5 of the 16 career ters for boys and girls. The difference in career intents by clusters were not identified as likely for any students. By sex is supported in the Tracey et al. (2005) research regard the 12" grade, every career cluster except Manufacturing ing sex and career interests. was identified as a likely career cluster for at least one stu The most frequently mapped skilIsets included one STEM dent (Figure 7). field: Information Technology. The other two most fre Careers by Sex quently identified skillsets, Hospitality and Tourism, and Figure 8 and 9 present career cluster percentages by sex for Education (See Table 3) may reflect high school student each school. For School A, overall differences were found skills developed as a result of exposure to work in the ser between boys and girls among the top six career clusters, vice market or school settings. These skillsets are typical with boys mapped to STEM and girls mapped to Health for high school students who work in sales or service jobs Science. No girls were mapped to Information Technology. during high school. The result that two of the three most Career Ouster Girls Boys Career Ouster Girls Boys Agriculture, Food, and Natural Agriculture, Food, and Natural 9"10 10% 14% 5% Resources Resources Architecture and Construction S% 10% Architecture and Construction 2% 11% Arts, Audio-Video Technology, Arts, Audio-Video Technology, 6% 7% 20% 6% and Communications and Communications Hea1thSclence 22% 7% Hea1thSclence 16% 7% Information Technology 0% 9% Information Technology 0% 7% Science, ficbnology. Science, ficbnology. 8% 21% 3% 11% E and Mathemati,=, E and Mathematics Figure 8. School A Career Clusters by Sex Figure 9. School B Career Clusters by Sex 20 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 frequently identified skillsets did not include STEM skills have a far greater percentage (44% and 42%) anticipating should motivate policy makers to develop initiatives for STEM-related careers after graduation. These career in STEM businesses and professionals focused on providing tents should not change much according to the Tracey et STEM experiences for elementary, middle and high school al. (2005) research regarding stabilization of career intent students. Tracey et al. (2005) documented that there was a by grades 9-12. relationship between skills and interest, and consequently between interest and careers. Earlier exposure (before and LIMITATIONS during middle school) to STEM environments instead of sales and service jobs could increase the number of stu Students in the two STEM high schools represent at least dents who develop STEM skills before high school. Earlier two groups: students with interests in STEM-related fields exposure could also lead to increased skills, awareness and as well as students who shared in focus groups and per preferences for STEM careers. Without the exposure, some sonal conversations with the researcher that they desired to who may be excellent candidates for a STEM field career 'try something new.' Though some may minimize the find may never recognize that such a field would be a match for ings of this study because portions of the students in the their abilities and interests. sample already have demonstrated an interest in STEM, For career mapping, boys tended to match with STEM the authors do not see this as a limitation. The research and Information Technology careers; girls tended to match question was to determine if STEM high school students with Arts Audio-Video Technology and Health Sciences. were anticipating STEM careers. Future research should School B data indicated the greatest boy/girl disparity (Ta address the question regarding whether STEM high school bles 7, 8). One reason for this could be the fact that School students anticipate STEM careers at a greater rate than stu B includes 11" and 12" graders. Tracey et al. (2005) analy dents in traditional schools. ses documented the trend for boys to alter career intents between the 10" and 12'" grade. School A's boy/girl dispar CONCLUSION ity could have a similar disparity once the school provides services for grades 11 and 12. Other reasons could include If the nation remains committed to increasing the number the fact that School B is an early college academy whose of high school graduates who enter the STEM pipeline, 11" and 12" graders take college level classes that may in policy makers need to realize that initiatives to increase pre troduce additional career options to students. college students' exposure to STEM-related experiences should include students younger than high school age. Five of the six most populated career clusters are included Moreover, policy makers should design programs that take in the constellation of STEM-related careers, though the into account that girls and boys are interested in STEM order was slightly different for students in the two schools. fields but in different clusters of STEM-related careers. This is in spite of the fact that students were distnbuted This study provided evidence that STEM high school stu over 15 of the 16 clusters by 12" grade. As more clusters dents expressed career intents in predominately STEM were populated, it was possible that STEM-related careers related careers. Data from two graduating classes from would not have been among the most populated mapped School B provided evidence that these interests translated careers for students. The results show otherwise. into college studies in STEM fields. In the first graduat Younger students were mapped to fewer career clusters ing class for School B (201 0), over 50"10 of the graduates (11) than the older students (15). This trend is supported entered college to pursue STEM fields. In 2011 64% of the by Tracey's (2005) finding that career interests tended to graduating class entered college to pursue STEM fields. change between the 10" and 12'" grade as decisions about The findings from this study of students in two STEM postsecondary options become realities. schools suggests that between 42 and 44% of STEM school NSSE data from 201 0 indicated that about 25% of first students hold STEM-related career intents, and that these year college students anticipated majoring in STEM ca intents resulted in more than half of the STEM school stu reers, but a survey of senior college students reported only dents majoring in STEM fields in college. This is double 20"10 anticipated graduating with STEM degrees (NSSE, the national percentage of high schools graduates pursuing 2010). NCES data (2011) indicates that about 27% of col STEM-related college studies, suggesting that STEM high lege degrees are awarded in STEM-related fields. Students schools are increasing the number of students entering the in all grade levels from the two STEM schools studied STEM pipeline. Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? 21 REFERENCES ACT. (2011). R<:tn:M:d from http://www.act.org/aap/ point into the computing community of practice. Jour nal of Information Technology Education, 7, 81-100. America COMPETES Act, H. R., 110 Sess., 2272 Cons. Roc. (2007). Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational pcnonalities and work environ Atkinson, R. D., Hugo, I., Lundgren, D., Shapiro. M. I., &: Thomas, J. (2007). Addressing the STEM challenge ments (3rd ed.) Odessa, FL: Psychologica.1.Assessme:nt Resoutces. by expanding specialty math and science high schools. NCSSSMST Journal, 12(2), 14-23. lhl. .H elkdy, K. (2001). K~ Ca=r Search: Con Battdle. (2002). Ohio STEM learning networl<: origi sequential wlidity and test-IOtest Idiability. 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Open to motivated 11th and 12th graders from across the U.S. • OIIicial NCSSSMST partner since 2004 • Scholarships available • Apply today at www.youthpollcysummlt.org 2012 Summer Programs: Energy Infrastructure at Keystone Science School for NCSSSMST students (June 9-16, 2012) $600 Urban Sustainability at UC Denver (June 24-30, 2012) $850 Urban Sustainability at Manhattan College (July 8-14,2012) $950 Water Resources at Auburn University (July 15-21, 2012) $750 Great Lakes Water Resources at Aquinas College (July 22-28, 2012) $800 Energy Innovation at California State University, Dominguez Hills (August 5-11, 2012) $950 www.youthpolicysummit.org 22 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue I era) policy, and !egi.laliw action [Electronic Version), mathematia, and technology and the STEM pipeline: 1-23. Retrieved from http://www.w.orgI./as/ What do we blow now and what will we know in 5 miac/RL33434.pdf years? Roeper Review, 32(1), 7-16. Low, K. S. D., Yoon, M., Roberts, B. w., &: Rounds, J. Swaney, K. B. (1995). Thchnical mamlal' Revised unisex (2005). The liability of 'YOCIrional iDtaests &om early edition of the act interest in'Yentory (UNlACI'). Iowa adolescence ID middle adulthood: A q. .a ntitaliw review City, lA: American CoD. 'Jating. of loqiIudiDal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 131(5), c. v., Tai, R. H., Liu, Q., Mahae, A. &: Fan, X. (2006). 713-737. Planning early for careers in science. Science, 312(26), Mc:Whir1er, E. H., Rashml, S., &: CroIhers, M. (2000). 1143-1144. The eft'eds of high school career education on soc:iaJ. The work suite: Career c1ustm, pathways &: specialties. cogDiliw variables. Journal of CounIeIing Psychology, (n.d.) Retrieved &om http://www.tbeworbuite.comI 47(3), 330-335. id30.html McCuen, R. H., &: Gteeaberg. J. (2009). Educating guid The 16 Career Custers. (n.d.). Retrieved from hap:11 ance COUIISdoIS on engineering as a career and academ www.doe.in.gov/pathways/CrrClstrGrid.html ic choice. Jouraal of PlClfessioual Issues in EngiDeer Thomas, J. (2000). Pint year findings: NCSSSMST lon ing Education &: Practice, 135(3), 91-94. doi:IO.I0611 gitudinal study. NCSSSMST Journal, 5(2), 4-5. (ASCB)1052-39211(2OO9)135:3(91) c. Thomas, J., &: WdIiams, (2010). The history of spe Miller, C. D. (2009, November I). IDItitute sIriws for cialiBil STEM schools and the formation and role of aatioual STEM education !ICIWOJ'k. ReIriewd from the NCSSSMST. Roeper Review, 32(1), 17-24. hap:llwww.thefreclibrary.comIlDItitute sIriws for aa c. tioual STEM education nerwork.-a0212033297 Tracey, T. J. G., Robbins, S. B., &: Hofiess, D. (2005). Stability and cbanae in inteIats: A longitudinal study National Academy I'Ias (2010). Rising above the gath of adolescents from grades 8 through 12. Jouraal of Vo ering storm, revisited: Rapidly approaching category cational Behavior, 66(2005), 1-25. 5. Retrieved from http://www.aap.edu/openbook. phpbeconU4=12999&:pqe=1 U S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistia, (2009&). 1998-99 and 2008-2009 National Survey of Student Engaarment (NSSE). integrated postsecondary education data system, com (lOll). Retrieved from hap:llDS8e.iub.eduI pletions suney' (lPBDS-99), Fall 2009. National Network of STEM StateI, (o.d.). ReIriewd U S. Department of Education, National Center for from hap:llwww.ilJnovate.educate.orgIfncus/nation Education Statistics. (2OO9b). 2008-2009 integrated al_network! postsecondary ed"cation data system, 'completions sur National Science Foomdation, (2007). National action vey,' Fall 2009 plan for addressing the critical needs of the US. sci U. S. Department of Education, National Center for ence, technology, engineer, and mathematics education Education Statistics, (2011). The condition of educa system. Retrieved from hap:IIwww.nsf.gov/DSb/docu tion, 2011. menlS/2007IstenLaction.pcif. Osborn, D. S., &: lIaggerIy, J. N. (2004). School counsel Zyrowski, D. (o.d.). ~ career search with person match technical manual, v. 1.2. Retrieved from hap:11 on' perceptions of career COUIJfding and career testing: www.kuder.comIdownIoadslJa:s.tech-mamql pdf P,,:feJ:-. priorities. and predictors. Journal of Career c., Development. 31(1), 45-59. Zyrowski, D., D'A chianIi, &: Rottinghaus. P. J. (n.d.) Kuder® Skills AlSenm.f 'Jlochnical Manual, v. 2.1. Re Predi8er, D. J. (1982). Dimensions underlying Holland's trieved from hap:llwww.kuder.comIdownloadsIKSA hexagon: Missing link between inteIests and occupa nch-Manual.pdf tions? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 21, 259-287. Subotnik, R. F., Tai, R. H., Ric:totf, R., &: Almarode, J. (2010). SpecialiBil public high schools of science, Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? 23

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Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? by M Suzanne Franco, Ed.D., Nimisha H. Patel, Ph.D., and Jill Lindsey, Ph.D. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio ABSTRACT This study compared the career skills and inter 44% of STEM school students hold STEM-re ests for students in two STEM schools to nation lated career intents, and these intents resulted in al data. Students completed the KUDER skills more than half of the School B STEM school assessment and career planning online tools. students majoring in STEM fields in college Results were compared across school, grade (School A will graduate its first class in 2013). level, and sex. The results provided evidence This is double the national percentage of high that STEM high school students expressed ca schools graduates pursuing STEM-related col reer intents in predominately STEM- related ca lege studies, suggesting that STEM high school reers at twice the national rate. Between 42 and students are entering the STEM pipeline. THE WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOWGY, ENGI ganizations to increase the number of graduates prepared neering, and math (STEM) trained professionals has fos to enter the STEM pipeline. Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, tered a plethora of responses within the United States as North Carolina, New York, and Maryland are a few states STEM-based economic activities increase. At first, the that have STEM initiatives, many of which are funded by national response focused on initiatives to support more the Gates foundations or the National Governors Asso college graduates in STEM programs (Kuenzi, 2008). Be ciation (NGA) (The National Network of STEM States, cause the results were not encouraging, initiatives emerged n.d.). The goal is to create a National STEM Learning Net to increase the number of high school students entering work as a clearinghouse for advancing STEM policies, best pathways for STEM professions, sometimes referred to as practices, and industry alignment (Miller, 2009). the STEM pipeline. The focus on increasing high school Longitudinal studies about STEM high schools' impact on graduates' STEM interests and skills within the United the number of STEM-trained college graduates have not States is documented in federal and state initiatives (Amer yet been published. Legislation and policies are predicat ica COMPETES, 2007; Battelle, 2002; Kuenzi, 2008; Na ed upon the hope that the availability of STEM-focused tional Science Foundation, 2007). One response to the high schools will increase the percentage of high school initiatives is the creation of STEM specialty high schools. Though high school reform is not a new concept, the de students who enter the pipeline anticipating a STEM ca velopment of STEM-focused high schools is relatively new. reer and exit the pipeline as STEM professionals. Indeed, In 2007 there were only 100 such schools throughout the it is during high school that students begin to differenti country (Atkinson, Hugo, Lundgren, Shapiro, & Thomas, ate career intents. Career aspirations emerge in the middle 2007; Subotnik, Tai, Rickoff, & A1marode, 2010; Thomas school years but are not fully formed until late in the high & Williams, 2010); as of 2011, there has been an emer school experiences (Low, Yoon, Roberts, & Rounds, 2005). gence of many more STEM specialty schools, including Tai, Liu, Maltese, and Fan (2006) studied the career paths charter schools, as well as STEM schools within traditional of grade 8 students and found that roughly half of grade schools. Furthermore, individual states have launched or- 8 students who expected to participate in a science-based 14 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue I career actually did study science at the postsecondary level. field. Students enter the STEM pipellw: at high school The result provided evidence that there is interest in STEM graduation and exit the pipeline as STEM professionals. careers at early ages; but do STEM schools further devel~ For the remainder of this paper, the authors will refer to op these interests? To investigate the question, this study degree completion, career interests and career clusters (a compared the career sld11s and interests for students in two distinct grouping of occupations and industries based on STEM schools to national data. the knowledge and skill. they require), rather than entering the pipeline because the actions are more descriptive of the postsecondary actions and decisions. LITERATURE REVIEW STEM High Schools Research suggests that exposure to STEM content within the traditional high school (HS) experience does not guar~ STEM schools deliver state-mandated HS content with a antee students will become STEM professionals. Thomas focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. Gen~ (2000) compared the majors of college graduates who at~ era11y speaking, STEM schools employ an inquiry·based tended a STEM HS to national percentages of college ma~ instructional framework with interdisciplinary content de jors collected by the National Center for Education Statis livery. Students work in either collaborative or cooperative tics (NCES) in 1992-1993. National results indicated that groups to solve problems. The problems are non-trivial and 3% of college-attending traditional HS graduates majored are generated either from students' personal intc:rests and/ in math or computer science. Meanwhile, 10% of students or from community issues. Consequently, students are more who graduated from a STEM HS and attended college ma~ likely to be invested personaI1y in solving the problem; their jared in math or computer science. While the percentage engagement in and motivation for solving the problems are of STEM majors was three times greater for graduates of enhanced. The student-generated solutions are commonly STEM HSs, it is reasonable to expect the diffe:rence would presented to school stakeholders; subsequently, students be higher. Interestingly, graduate. of STEM HS. majored incorporate stakeholder feedback. into their final solution. in the science fields at twice the rate of graduates from tra~ As such, most STEM schools partner with local businesses ditional HS., 51% compared to 23%. andior Institotes of Higher Education (!HE) in order to provide personal connections between students and those The phrase 'enter the STEM pipeline' refers to a student with careers in a STEM field. Some STEM HSs offer early decl.aring intent in further education or a career in a STEM college credits or all college credit classes in the junior and senior years. Cueer education in Kl2 School. .-- It is said frequently that careers that will be available for -~- I today's high school graduates have not yet been creat ~, ed. As students join the workforce, their experience and '• 'r'" ' , •• I knowledge will shape new professions (Haberman & Ye ~it • • "f hezkeJ., 2008). Nonetheless, schools continue to provide " career education in varying degrees in the middle school V • t or high school. Ideally, students complete personal skills <P- . and interest inventories which map into distinct groupings of occupations and industries. The groupings are referred to as career clusters. From this activity, students can begin the process of exploring further the group of careers that "'" aJditioMl ~ pIAu< amt.ct In. S. ....... ""*"'" Pnmco lilt SIlZIlML~ght. • Dr. PrtmaJ iJ GIl matches their interests. ~ at Wrijlu _ um....uy...d aUo tIoe Career selection is a process that takes place over a peri _ ofllem=h...d E..u...t;on at Doyton Rq;oMl od of ten or more yeatS as a student matures (Low et at., STEMSdwoI. 2005). Parents, tea.che:rs, friends, and neighbors influence Me STEM High School Stodents Entering the STEM Pipeline? 15 the process, as do school counselors. Unfortunately, the ac Sixteen Career Clnsters tual time performing career counseling duties is minimal Agriculture Food and Natural Resources according to a state wide study of elementary, middle, and high school counselors (Osborn & Baggerly, 2004). Budget Arts, Audio-Video Technology, and Communications challenges for education that cut or minimize counselor ac Business Mana. ...e nt aDd Administration cess along with the ever growing counselor responsibilities Education and Training associated with standardized testing and class scheduling IFiDaDcc contribute to this situation. Government and Public Administration Beyond time constraints, school counselor knowledge I Health Srience influences the ability to guide students in career explora Hospitality and Tourism tion. School counselors are not and cannot be experts on I all career opportunities. In fact, most school counselors Information 'Jlo:chno1ogy work with students to recoguize their personal skills and Law IMarketiDg interests and then direct students to additional resources for career options related to these interests (McWhirter, Manufacturing I Rasheed, & Crothers, 2000). In a study by McCuen and Public: Safety, Comctions, aDd Security Greenberg (2009), students reported that school counsel Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics I ors' lack of awareness of emerging STEM-related careers TransponatiOD had a negative impact on students pursuing postsecondary Figure 1. Sixteen career cl1l8ters STEM interests. Career Clusters example, a score close to 'R', 'Realistic', implies that the In 1996 the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the Of responder would be well placed in jobs such as mechanical fice of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), the Na and electrical specialties or engineering. A student with a tional School-to-Work Office (NSTWO), and the National scale score closer to'S', Social, would be well suited for Sk:i11 Standards Board (NSSB) collaborated tu develop 16 education or community services. The scales were final career clusters or groupings of similar careers (The 16 Ca ized by Holland and are sometimes referred to as the Hol reer Clusters, n.d.). The purpose was to assist students in land scales; they have been supported repeatedly in the planning for the transition from high school to careers or literature (Day & Rounds, 1998; Swaney, 1995). Holland higher education (The work suite: Career clusters, path (1997) posits a circular model for the RIASEC scale; R ways & specialties [thus], n.d.). The attraction for stan (realistic) is most similar to I (investigative) and C (con dardizing the career clusters was that the cluster names are ventional), less similar to A (artistic) and E (enterprising), familiar tu most students. For example, students can relate and least similar to S (social). Prediger (1982) posited that tu the career clusters of Education and Training or Health the RIASEC scales can be subsumed into two dimensions Science (See Figure 1). (Things/People and Data/Ideas) to characterize further the RIASEC profiles. One dimension identifies careers Career Planning Tools for Students as focusing on Things or People, such as Engineering for To assist students in familiarizing themselves with career Things, or Education for People; the second dimension is options related to their interests, numerous career inter named Data or Ideas, with Regulation or Financial careers est and planning tools have evolved. The ACT college related to Data and Arts or Social Sciences related to Ideas. entrance assessment offers a career exploration tool for Figure 2 includes a circular model depicting the RIASEC middle school students (EXPLORE) and for high school scales merged with career descriptions and Prediger's two students (PLAN for 10" graders and the ACT for II'" and dimensions. 12'" graders) (ACT, 2011). An informative career options Another resource that provides career interest and plan student report merges ACT academic achievement results ning services designed for students is KUDER, an online and self-reported interest inventories for each student. survey regarding student career skills and interest. The on ACT career interest analyses employ the RIASEC scales line tool is designed for students as early as grade 7 and for to identify interests: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, So adults at any point in a career (Kuder, 2010). Student skill cial, Enterprising, and Conventional (Swaney, 1995). For interest data is mapped to either the RIASEC or the 16 Ca- 16 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 ~ the 1()d' and 12111. grade more students identified careers that did not align with their interests. The research ers suggested that the change in interest-career congruency could be attributed to the major life decisions required in 121h grade regarding college/career choices; more career counseling dIorts in 12" grade may be warranted regard ing interest-career congruency. National Statistics for Bad1eIor Degrees Awarded In 2010 68% of the high school graduates enrolled in col lege and 90% were eorolled full tim< (US Department of o. fI~I_lng' Education NCES, 2011). Twenty-five percent of college . Techiolaglill. graduates received degrees in STEM fields. P. Ibtnl SCIIIDII • TII:~IOIDg!:1 Because higher education institutes have different require ments regarding when a student declares a major, it is not " easy to determine how many students begin their college career with the intent to major in a STEM field. The Na tional Survey of Studeot Engagement (NSSE) instruments Figure 2. The RIASEC KIIlcs merged with caRa" dacrlption.s arul Predip'. two dimculioDJ collect self-report data regarding college students' antici pated major fields of study. For 2010, first year college stu reel" Clusters. For this study, student responses to KUDER dents across the nation (n = 189,811) indicated that 25% assessments subsequently mapped to the 16 career clusters anticipated majoring in STEM fields (Biology, Engineer were used. ing, and Physics). Twenty percent of a 2010 sample of col = lege seniors (n 229,713) reported upcom:i:ng graduation StadeDt interest stability """" time in STEM fields (NSSE, lOll). Longitudinal. data from career planning tools have pro College degree attainment is a more reliable statistic than vided insights over tim< regarding stability and clumge of lIS student skills, interest, and anticipated careers. Tracey, anticipated college degree fields when determin:i:cg statis Robbins, and Hofs. .. (2005) analyzed natiooal ACT data tics regarding trends of STEM HS graduates entering the for students at the IJIII., 1()dt, and 12111. grades. 1'heresearchers STEM pipeline. For that reason the NCES data is prefeIled in descnbingthenumberof STEM graduates. In200S, 27% analyzed student academic scores and career interests. The results indicated that there was a genem1. upward trend in of the attained degrees were in STEM fields ranging from ACT academic scores for both sexes for all subjects over health to computer science to physics. This is very close the three assessments administered in the 8'1<, 1( )dt, and 12110 to the 26.9% STEM-related degrees awarded in 1998 (US Department of Education NCES, 2009b), indicating that grades. For career interests, the RIASEC scale scores also increased in magnitude over time, indicating more crys recent efforts have to be furthered to bring about more sub tallized interests. Girls' interests were stable. Interests for stantial changes. It is interesting to note that NCES 2008 boys clumged from the 10" grade to the 12" grade. data (27% STEM graduates) is close to the anticipated per centage (25%) reported by NSSE (2011). Interestingly, though, Tracey et aI. (2005) fuuod there was no relationship between academic scores and subsequent Sex Difference. regardlDg career interests or vice versa. For example, students with STEM-related College Majors high math scores did not necessarily indicate career in The percentage of college degrees awarded to males and terests in math-related careers. Students did exhibit more females was fairly constant between 1998 and 200S (US crystallization within career interests as they matriculated Department of Education NCES, 2009a). The degree field through HS; for example, instead of • broad math-re1ated that has experienced the largest female increase in the ten career, a student's interests na.r:rowed to electrical engineer year period is Security and Protective Services; the largest ing or physics. InteIest..career congruency, the match be decrease has been in Computer and Information Sciences, tween interest and career intent, was stable from grade S to a STEM-related field. In fact, the percentage of females 10 and less stable ~ grade 10 and 12. For example, awarded degrees in computer science and engineering de- Are STEM High School Studeots Eotcting the STEM Pipeline? 17 School 8" GradeN 9'" GradeN 10'" Grade N n"GradeN 12'" Grade N Total Sex F M F M F M F M F M SdIooIA 19 33 18 44 28 39 N/A N/A N/A N/A 181 SchoolB N/A N/A 31 34 41 34 21 21 23 36 241 TotalN S2 127 142 42 S9 422 Figure 3. Descriptifl' Statisti. . of Participants Across Grade Level and Sex clined between 1998 (27%) and 2008 (18%). Likewise, the taught at the school during junior and senior years. An percentage of females who received degrees in engineer educational council representing the entire region of local ing, computer science and biology during 2008 was small school districts operated the school. Students in each of the er than those awarded in 1998. In 2008, females had the participating districts applied for the STEM/Early College highest percentages of degrees in Family and Consumer program; admittance was based on a lottery system. School Sciences (87%); Health Profession (85%); and Public Ad B had graduated two classes. Over 50% of their graduates ministration and Social Services (82%). Females had the declared their major field of study in STEM-related fields. smallest representation in Engineering (16%) and Comput All students at each school were asked to participate in the er Science/Technology (18%). In contrast to the females, study. Participation rate was approximately 85%, with 422 males continued to dominate in the Engineering (82%), participants out of the 498 students enrolled across both Computer Science (73%) and Physical Science fields (60%) schools. Participant grade level and sex are presented in (US Department of Education NCES, 2009b). Figure 3. Summary Measures Historical data indicate that the numbers of students an To examine the research question, student skills and career ticipating and attaining STEM-related college degrees is intent were studied. For skills, the KUDER Skills Assess stagnant. STEM high schools are providing students with ment (KSAI6) maps students' skills within the framework skills that are necessary for success in STEM careers. The of the 16 career clusters desctibed previously. Participants question remains, though, whether today's STEM high provide one of the five following responses to 170 state school graduates are selecting STEM fields for careers or ments describing activities, such as 'planting a garden to higher education. This paper documents a comparison of make a salad': Cannot do at all; Slightly certain can do; historical national data regarding STEM Bachelor's degree Moderately certain can do; Very certain can do; and Com anticipation!a ttainment and two STEM high schools stu pletely certain can do. The internal consistency (Cronbach's dents' career interests and aspirations. alphas) of the KSAl6 are high (Zytowski, D'Achiardi, & Rottinghaus, n.d.), ranging from 0.78 to 0.85 for each clus METHODS ter. For career intent, the KUDER Career Survey (KCS) pr0- Participants vides data regarding the inventory-taker's similarity with Participants included students enrolled in either of two groups of employed people in the sixteen career clusters STEM schools in the same Midwestern state. At the time identified in Table 1. Students rank order responses to 60 of data collection, School A served students in grades 8-10. forced choice triads using Most-, Next Most-, and Least The school was in its second year and planned to add grade preferred as a ranking scale. The activities within each triad levels each year, eventually to serve students in grades 6-12. are described as a simple verb and an object, such as 'take The school represented students from 5 different counties dance lessons'. Cluster scores are generated by means of and over 30 school districts. Applicants were required to be a system of unique weights obtained by multiple regres on grade level. A lottery system was used to attain equal sion analyses of the attitude preference scales on cluster representation from each of three surrounding counties membership. Reliability studies indicate the instrument is and across sex. Over-representation was allowed from the both reliable and valid. Ihle-He11edy (2001) found Cron three original counties if openings remained. bach alphas for cluster scores ranging from .65 to .86 with School B was a STEM- focused, early college academy that a median of 0.77, and temporal reliabilities ranging be served students in grades 9-12. College level courses were tween 0.83 and 0.92, with a median of 0.87. Recent stud- 18 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 ies regarding the validity of the KCS found Career satisfactory concurrent validity evidence for Clnster GradeS Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 the majority of career clusters (Kelly, 2002; Hospitality 42% 31% 27% 37% 23% Zytowski, n.d.). Information 23% 27% 31% 37% 35% Students completed the online KSAI6 and KCS using school computers during two 50 Education 16% 22% 23% 7% 13% minute advisory periods in March, 2011; and Training those who did not complete the online assess- Figure 5. Percentage of Students Skillsets in Most Populated Career Clusten ments during advisory time completed the by Grade Le.d surveys at home using personal computers between April and May, 2011. Upon comple- tion, each student received a summary profile that included Students reported their current skillsets were focused in the suggested steps for continuing career exploration and links Hospitality and Tourism (31 %) and Information Technol for exploring options for additional career study. KUDER ogy (30%) clusters; the Education and Training was the provided summarized skill and career data by grade level, third highest populated (19%) cluster. Figure 4 contains the sex, and school to the authors. Microsoft Excel pivot tables percentages of students whose skillsets were mapped to the were created to investigate differences in skills and career three most populated career clusters. Skillset/Career clus intents by grade levels, sex, and school responses. ters mappings to 3 or fewer students are not reported caus ing the total percentages not to eqnal 100% in Figure 4. RESULTS Skills inventory by grade level The three clusters represented in Figure 4 were also the STEM career cluster and STEM careers most populated career clusters by grade level; however, the The STEM cluster within the 16 National Career Clusters percentage of students with skillsets mapped to the three Figure 1 includes jobs and careers focused in engineering; clusters varied with grade level (Figure 5). For example, the cluster does not represent all careers that require STEM Hospitality mappings decreased from 8'" grade (42%) to training. For this study, to better identify the sample's 12'" grade (23%) while Information Technology increased STEM career intents, the authors defined 'STEM-related' from 8'" grade (23%) to 12'" grade (35%). The third most careers to include Health Services, Architecture, Informa populated skillset cluster, Education and Training, re tion Technology, and Arts Audio-Video Technology and mained relatively consistent between 8'" and 12'" grade. Communications clusters. Given this expanded definition of STEM-related careers, the career interests of the major Career Cluster Boys Girls ity of the students in both schools were STEM-related. The Hospitality 22% 41% results are described in two sections: skills and careers. Information ~ 44% 13% Skills inventory Education and Training 11% 27% Skills inventory data represent students' responses about Figure 6. Percentage of Student Skillset Clusters by Sex their current skillsets. The skillsets are aggregated intu the 16 career clusters described previously. The skill clusters Skills by Sex identified from the student responses for the two schools Skillset mappings to career clusters are different when were similar; therefore, the results are reported for a merged summarized by sex (Table 5). Boys' self-reported skillsets dataset containing School A and School B responses. were mapped into Information Technology as first (44%); Percentage of students with Hospitality and Tourism as second (22%); and Education Career Cluster s1dllsets in Career Cluster and Training as third (11%). Girls' self-reported skillsets Hospitality 31% were mapped into Hospitality and Tourism as first (41 %); Education and Training as second (27%); and Information Education and Training 19"10 Technology as third (13%). The sex differences regarding skillset mapping to career clusters were consistent across Figure 4. Percentage Stodents with Skillsets in Most Populated Career Clusters all grade levels. Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? 19 GradeS Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Education & Trairung Business Human Services Manufacturing Manufacturing Finance Human Services Marketing Hospitality & Tourism Transportation Human Services Transportation Figure 7. Career CIusten not populated by Grade Levels Career clusters There were three career clusters heavily populated by girls in School B: Arts Audio-Video Technology and Commu Even though the top six career clusters were the same for nications (20%), Health Science (16%). and Agriculture both schools, the percent students mapped to the career (14%). For boys, the most frequent career clusters were: clusters differed. The top two career clusters for School A are STEM·related; the top three career clusters for School STEM (11%), Architecture (11 %), Information Technol B are STEM-related. The most frequently identified clus ogy (7%) and Health Science (7%). No girls in School B ter for School A is STEM; the most frequently identified were matched to the Information Technology cluster. cluster for School B is shared between STEM and Arts Au dio-Video Technology and Communications. The least fre DISCUSSION quently identified cluster for School A is Arts Audio-Video Technology and Communications; the least frequently Careers that require STEM skills are not limited to engi identified cluster for School B is Information Technology. neering; Architecture, Health Science, Audio-Video Tech nology and Information Technology career clusters are Career clusters by Grade part of a constellation of STEM-related careers. Using an There was no discermble trend regarding specific career expanded definition of STEM careers to include STEM clusters identified by grade levels. However, there was a related careers, girls and boys in this study were predomi slight trend regarding the number of career clusters rep nately matched to STEM careers with different career clus resented in each grade level. In grade 8, 5 of the 16 career ters for boys and girls. The difference in career intents by clusters were not identified as likely for any students. By sex is supported in the Tracey et al. (2005) research regard the 12" grade, every career cluster except Manufacturing ing sex and career interests. was identified as a likely career cluster for at least one stu The most frequently mapped skilIsets included one STEM dent (Figure 7). field: Information Technology. The other two most fre Careers by Sex quently identified skillsets, Hospitality and Tourism, and Figure 8 and 9 present career cluster percentages by sex for Education (See Table 3) may reflect high school student each school. For School A, overall differences were found skills developed as a result of exposure to work in the ser between boys and girls among the top six career clusters, vice market or school settings. These skillsets are typical with boys mapped to STEM and girls mapped to Health for high school students who work in sales or service jobs Science. No girls were mapped to Information Technology. during high school. The result that two of the three most Career Ouster Girls Boys Career Ouster Girls Boys Agriculture, Food, and Natural Agriculture, Food, and Natural 9"10 10% 14% 5% Resources Resources Architecture and Construction S% 10% Architecture and Construction 2% 11% Arts, Audio-Video Technology, Arts, Audio-Video Technology, 6% 7% 20% 6% and Communications and Communications Hea1thSclence 22% 7% Hea1thSclence 16% 7% Information Technology 0% 9% Information Technology 0% 7% Science, ficbnology. Science, ficbnology. 8% 21% 3% 11% E and Mathemati,=, E and Mathematics Figure 8. School A Career Clusters by Sex Figure 9. School B Career Clusters by Sex 20 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue 1 frequently identified skillsets did not include STEM skills have a far greater percentage (44% and 42%) anticipating should motivate policy makers to develop initiatives for STEM-related careers after graduation. These career in STEM businesses and professionals focused on providing tents should not change much according to the Tracey et STEM experiences for elementary, middle and high school al. (2005) research regarding stabilization of career intent students. Tracey et al. (2005) documented that there was a by grades 9-12. relationship between skills and interest, and consequently between interest and careers. Earlier exposure (before and LIMITATIONS during middle school) to STEM environments instead of sales and service jobs could increase the number of stu Students in the two STEM high schools represent at least dents who develop STEM skills before high school. Earlier two groups: students with interests in STEM-related fields exposure could also lead to increased skills, awareness and as well as students who shared in focus groups and per preferences for STEM careers. Without the exposure, some sonal conversations with the researcher that they desired to who may be excellent candidates for a STEM field career 'try something new.' Though some may minimize the find may never recognize that such a field would be a match for ings of this study because portions of the students in the their abilities and interests. sample already have demonstrated an interest in STEM, For career mapping, boys tended to match with STEM the authors do not see this as a limitation. The research and Information Technology careers; girls tended to match question was to determine if STEM high school students with Arts Audio-Video Technology and Health Sciences. were anticipating STEM careers. Future research should School B data indicated the greatest boy/girl disparity (Ta address the question regarding whether STEM high school bles 7, 8). One reason for this could be the fact that School students anticipate STEM careers at a greater rate than stu B includes 11" and 12" graders. Tracey et al. (2005) analy dents in traditional schools. ses documented the trend for boys to alter career intents between the 10" and 12'" grade. School A's boy/girl dispar CONCLUSION ity could have a similar disparity once the school provides services for grades 11 and 12. Other reasons could include If the nation remains committed to increasing the number the fact that School B is an early college academy whose of high school graduates who enter the STEM pipeline, 11" and 12" graders take college level classes that may in policy makers need to realize that initiatives to increase pre troduce additional career options to students. college students' exposure to STEM-related experiences should include students younger than high school age. Five of the six most populated career clusters are included Moreover, policy makers should design programs that take in the constellation of STEM-related careers, though the into account that girls and boys are interested in STEM order was slightly different for students in the two schools. fields but in different clusters of STEM-related careers. This is in spite of the fact that students were distnbuted This study provided evidence that STEM high school stu over 15 of the 16 clusters by 12" grade. As more clusters dents expressed career intents in predominately STEM were populated, it was possible that STEM-related careers related careers. Data from two graduating classes from would not have been among the most populated mapped School B provided evidence that these interests translated careers for students. The results show otherwise. into college studies in STEM fields. In the first graduat Younger students were mapped to fewer career clusters ing class for School B (201 0), over 50"10 of the graduates (11) than the older students (15). This trend is supported entered college to pursue STEM fields. In 2011 64% of the by Tracey's (2005) finding that career interests tended to graduating class entered college to pursue STEM fields. change between the 10" and 12'" grade as decisions about The findings from this study of students in two STEM postsecondary options become realities. schools suggests that between 42 and 44% of STEM school NSSE data from 201 0 indicated that about 25% of first students hold STEM-related career intents, and that these year college students anticipated majoring in STEM ca intents resulted in more than half of the STEM school stu reers, but a survey of senior college students reported only dents majoring in STEM fields in college. This is double 20"10 anticipated graduating with STEM degrees (NSSE, the national percentage of high schools graduates pursuing 2010). NCES data (2011) indicates that about 27% of col STEM-related college studies, suggesting that STEM high lege degrees are awarded in STEM-related fields. Students schools are increasing the number of students entering the in all grade levels from the two STEM schools studied STEM pipeline. Are STEM High School Students Entering the STEM Pipeline? 21 REFERENCES ACT. (2011). R<:tn:M:d from http://www.act.org/aap/ point into the computing community of practice. Jour nal of Information Technology Education, 7, 81-100. America COMPETES Act, H. R., 110 Sess., 2272 Cons. Roc. (2007). Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational pcnonalities and work environ Atkinson, R. D., Hugo, I., Lundgren, D., Shapiro. M. I., &: Thomas, J. (2007). Addressing the STEM challenge ments (3rd ed.) Odessa, FL: Psychologica.1.Assessme:nt Resoutces. by expanding specialty math and science high schools. NCSSSMST Journal, 12(2), 14-23. lhl. .H elkdy, K. (2001). K~ Ca=r Search: Con Battdle. (2002). Ohio STEM learning networl<: origi sequential wlidity and test-IOtest Idiability. 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Science, t<chnology, engineering, science educational program for _blishing an entry and mathematics (S'IEM) education: Background, fed- ",l K e~to CUlT Through mediation and collaboration, Youth Policy Summit trains tomorrow's leaders to examine and value diverse perspectives, make sustainable decisions and find lasting solutions to our nation's toughest environmental, energy and public health issues. Open to motivated 11th and 12th graders from across the U.S. • OIIicial NCSSSMST partner since 2004 • Scholarships available • Apply today at www.youthpollcysummlt.org 2012 Summer Programs: Energy Infrastructure at Keystone Science School for NCSSSMST students (June 9-16, 2012) $600 Urban Sustainability at UC Denver (June 24-30, 2012) $850 Urban Sustainability at Manhattan College (July 8-14,2012) $950 Water Resources at Auburn University (July 15-21, 2012) $750 Great Lakes Water Resources at Aquinas College (July 22-28, 2012) $800 Energy Innovation at California State University, Dominguez Hills (August 5-11, 2012) $950 www.youthpolicysummit.org 22 NCSSSMST Journal I 2012 Issue I era) policy, and !egi.laliw action [Electronic Version), mathematia, and technology and the STEM pipeline: 1-23. Retrieved from http://www.w.orgI./as/ What do we blow now and what will we know in 5 miac/RL33434.pdf years? Roeper Review, 32(1), 7-16. Low, K. S. D., Yoon, M., Roberts, B. w., &: Rounds, J. 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