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Black and Hispanic Males in the Online STEM Environment

Black and Hispanic Males in the Online STEM Environment. By: Katherine Conway Alyse C. Hachey Claire Wladis. Diversity in Higher Education. American colleges and universities serve an increasingly diverse college-going population (Baum & Ma, 2007). Enrollments between 1976-2008 among

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Black and Hispanic Males in the Online STEM Environment

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  1. Black and Hispanic Males in the Online STEM Environment By: Katherine Conway Alyse C. Hachey Claire Wladis

  2. Diversity in Higher Education • American colleges and universities serve an increasingly diverse college-going population (Baum & Ma, 2007). • Enrollments between 1976-2008 among • Asian/Pacific Islander students grew 561% • Hispanic student enrollments grew 495% • American Indian/Alaskan Native student enrollments grew 151% • Black student enrollments grew 140% • White student enrollments grew 34% (NCES, 2010).

  3. Minority Students In Community Colleges • Among Hispanic and Native American students more than half are enrolled in community colleges along with 44-45% of Black and Asian students (Fast Facts, 2011) • Public two-year colleges are a particularly important: enrolling 55% of students in all MSIs and from 48-64% of students in the enrollment designated MSIs (the non HBCUs and TCUs) (Li, 2007).

  4. The STEM Crisis • During the decade ending in 2018, occupations in the computer, mathematical science, life, physical, and social sciences are projected to grow more than twice as fast as the average for all occupations in the economy. • The United States will need more than two million new scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technicians (Occupational Outlook, 2010-11).

  5. STEM and Minority Students • In science and engineering underrepresented minorities receive fewer than 18% of baccalaureate degrees, fewer than 15% of masters’ degrees and fewer than 5% of doctoral degrees (NAS, 2007). • Besides Asians in the aggregate, the gains in STEM by other minority groups have been less than impressive (NSF), 2009).

  6. STEM & Community Colleges • The National Academies of Science stated that “the community college with its diverse student population is an integral player in advancing minority participation in STEM” (p. 34, Expanding Underrepresented Minority, 2011).

  7. STEM & Community Colleges • Up to 40% of bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients in science, engineering and health initiate their studies at a community college (Mooney & Foley, 2011). • Slightly more than 12% of STEM jobs in 2018 will be filled by associate degree holders and many more jobs will be held by students with advanced degrees who at some point studied at a community college (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010).

  8. STEM & Community Colleges • A fifth of all engineering students earned at least 10 credits at a community college and 40 percent of bachelor's or master's degree graduates in engineering in 1999 and 2000 had attended a community college • In CA almost half of the graduates with science or engineering degrees from the state system got their start at community colleges (Enhancing the Community College Pathway, 2005).

  9. Getting more Community College Students into STEM • Underrepresented minorities in two-year institutions are less likely to major in STEM or complete their degree in STEM (Expanding Underrepresented Minority, 2011). • By 2019 the combined minority population will equal the white population (College Board, 2011).

  10. Lack of Preparation • Nationally, 42% of students at public two year colleges report taking a remedial course during their first year of college (NCES, 2011). • One study showed that 85% of minority students were directed away from advanced math and science courses by the start of high school (Campbell, 1996).

  11. Lack of Preparation • Hispanic students are less likely to attend high schools offering trigonometry, much less, calculus. • Students in the lowest SES quintile attend high schools that are less likely to offer any mathematics above Algebra II (Adelman, 2006).

  12. Lack of Information • Community college students are often from low income homes and the first generation to attend college; attributes which often contribute to the students lack of familiarity with STEM careers(Fast Facts, 2011; Hill, Petus & Hedin, 1990; Mestre & Robinson, 1983).

  13. Lack of Support • A quarter of all students who transfer out of STEM majors cite inadequate advising, counseling, and tutoring (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). • Estimates of student: counselor ratios near 1000:1 (Grubb, 2001).

  14. H.S. Math = NO STEM DEGREE • 12th graders scoring at above proficiency in Math

  15. Black & Hispanic Male Students • 19.8% of Hispanic males • 30.3% of African-American males ages 25-24 had achieved an associates degree or higher compared to 49% for white males and 70% for Asian males nationally Across all ethnicities young women are outperforming young men in educational attainment (College Board, 2011)

  16. Hispanic Males In/Out of High School • Latino males have consistently been more likely to drop out of high school than males of other ethnic groups (Soza 2007;Fry 2009). • Wide disparity depending on place of birth: U.S. natives 12% drop-out, foreign born Hispanics, 37% drop-out.

  17. African American Males, An Endangered Species “Gloomy educational outcomes for African American males: • high rates of suspension, • expulsion and grade retention; • low graduation rates; • overrepresentation in special education; and • disengagement.” (College Board, 2011)

  18. African American Males, An Endangered Species • In 2008, African American men represented 5% of all undergraduates in the United States, the same proportion in 1976 (Harper 2006a). • The progress that has been made by African Americans in accessing higher education has been made by women.

  19. Demand for a Community College Degree • Community colleges enroll over 12 million students • 44% of all undergraduates • Enrollment growth between 2008-2010 was 15%

  20. Meeting Enrollment Demand More than two-thirds of institutions surveyed cited: • student demand for flexible scheduling • providing access for students who might not otherwise be able to attend college (e.g. because of geographic, family or work-related issues) as the primary reasons for offering online courses (Parsad & Lewis, 2008).

  21. Online Education and Student Retention • Online learning growing substantially • 21% growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds 2% growth in overall higher education (Allen & Seaman, 2010) • 30% of all students take at least one online course (Allen & Seaman, 2010) • 97% of community colleges offer online courses (Parsad & Lewis, 2008)

  22. Online Education and Student Retention • Attrition = principal measure of the efficacy of an online education program • Drop-out rates in online courses from 30 to 40% in the U.S. (Tyler-Smith, 2006) • Retention in distance education courses 10-20 percentage points lower than Face-to-face courses (Morris & Finnegan, 2008). • Connected to overall academic non-success in higher education (Diaz, 2002)

  23. Online Education and STEM Courses • Community colleges playing critical role in STEM fields • up to 40% of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science, engineering and health initiate at community colleges (Mooney & Foley, 2011). • Little data available on number of STEM courses offered online • fully online program in STEM field =17% in engineering to 31% and 33% in computer sciences and health professions and related sciences (Allen & Seaman, 2008). • No data on # of online STEM courses in general • This study = ¼ online courses in STEM fields

  24. Online Education and STEM Courses • Positives to STEM online courses • Greater access for students • Use of computer-based simulations with modeling environments and access to authentic research data • Negatives to STEM online courses • Difficulty doing Laboratory work • Notation and courseware systems not optimal for specific STEM course needs • Very Little research available • Small sample sizes; none looking specifically at retention

  25. Identify factors that affect black and Hispanic male student persistence and retention in online STEM courses To what extent is attrition in STEM courses affected by the online environment? To what extent is black and Hispanic male success and enrollment in STEM courses affected by the online environment? PURPOSE OF STUDY

  26. METHODOLOGY • The Community College • Located in large urban area • Diverse Student body from around world • 37% African-American, 33% Hispanic, 14% Asian, and 16% Caucasian • 2/3 student population = women • Offers approx. 120 online courses • Over 2/3 in Liberal Arts • Tenders online degree in Liberal Arts

  27. METHODOLOGY From Office of Institutional Research • 122 course sections, half taught online and the other half taught face-to-face • Reduced =only sections with instructor taught both face-to-face and online in the same semester • Reduced = only courses where there were at least three pairs of online and face-to-face course sections taught by the same instructor in the same semester Dataset Overview

  28. RESULTS • Do different types of courses have different retention rates? • retention was higher in face-to-face courses compared to online courses, and this difference is highly statistically significant (α=0.01) • STEM courses had higher overall retention regardless of delivery method, difference was highly statistically significant (α=0.01).

  29. RESULTS • What effect does the online environment have on retention in STEM courses? • STEM and non-STEM courses had a higher attrition rate online than face-to-face, with STEM courses having a much larger and more highly significant difference in retention rates (α=0.01) • Conclusion: Appears gap between face-to-face and online course retention was greater among STEM than non-STEM courses

  30. RESULTS • To determine if this interaction was significant, a binary logistic regression was performed • Retention rate as the dependent variable and course delivery method and STEM status as the two independent variable • Course delivery type and STEM status were highly statistically significant predictors of course retention (α=0.01) • Interaction between course delivery type and STEM status was a statistically significant predictor of course retention (α=0.05).

  31. Students in non-STEM courses and in online courses = both much more likely to drop out • Increased risk of dropping out when moving from a face-to-face to online environment is even greater for students in STEM courses than in non-STEM courses

  32. RESULTS • A previous study showed that enrollment in online courses varied significantly by ethnicity compared to face-to-face courses.

  33. RESULTS • To what extent do enrollments in online STEM courses vary by ethnicity, compared to face-to-face STEM courses? • White students enroll in disproportionately more online STEM courses than other ethnic groups when compared to face-to-face STEM enrollments, and this difference is highly statistically significant (α=0.01).

  34. RESULTS • To what extent do enrollments in online STEM courses vary by gender, compared to face-to-face STEM courses? • Female students enroll in disproportionately more online STEM courses than other ethnic groups when compared to face-to-face STEM enrollments, and this difference is highly statistically significant (α=0.01).

  35. RESULTS • How do black and Hispanic male success rates (completed a course with a “C” or better) in online STEM courses compare to face-to-face STEM courses? • The gap between black and Hispanic male success rates and those of other ethnic/gender groups narrows online.

  36. RESULTS • This phenomenon was tested using a binary logistic regression model: • The narrowing of the gap was statistically significant at the α=0.10 level.

  37. The gap between Black and Hispanic Male success rates and other ethnic/gender groups in STEM courses actually decreased in the online environment in this study.

  38. IMPLICATIONS • This research suggests that increased effort is needed in recruiting men and non-White ethnicities into online courses if we are to achieve completely representative participation in the online environment for all groups.   • Similar analyses should be repeated with larger samples containing a wider range of courses across different college campuses to increase generalizability of findings. • Further investigations could explore why the success gap seems to be smaller in online STEM courses than in face-to-face STEM courses. For Practice For Future Research

  39. Limitations • Some of the findings reported in this study could be institution-specific or course-specific. • Other researchers might classify courses differently based on the quantitative or computational nature of the STEM course.

  40. Final Conclusions from the study • Fewer non-White students enroll in online STEM courses than face-to-face STEM courses. • Fewer men enroll in online STEM courses than face-to-face STEM courses. • The gap between success rates (finishing a course with a “C” or better) for Black and Hispanic men and other groups actually decreased when moving STEM courses from the face-to-face to online environment in this study, suggesting that there may be key features of the online environment that could be implemented more widely to increase Black and Hispanic male success in STEM disciplines. Further research is necessary to see if this result can be replicated in other samples, and to determine why the online environment has such an effect.

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