Exploring the factors that motivate female students to enroll and persist in a collegiate STEM degree program

Abstract

In the United States, collegiate enrollment in science and engineering programs continues to decline, while European and Asian universities have increased the number of science and engineering graduates. In addition, there is a growing concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. Through increasing access to pre-collegiate STEM activities, providing a better understanding of STEM career choices, instilling of confidence in math and science, and establishing student and industry based mentoring programs, more female students will enroll and persist in collegiate STEM degree programs. This paper sets to explore the factors that influence and motivate female students to enroll and persist in collegiate STEM programs through an exploratory sequential mixed methods research framework. The framework has been formulated into a model that provides an insight into female decision to enroll and persist in collegiate STEM programs. Emphasis will be placed on the first phase of the research model, qualitative data collection.