Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic and gender inequalities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degree recipients are a worrisome reality that has long lasting consequences in the STEM labor supply in USA today. Members of some racial/ethnic minority groups and of lower socioeconomic status are underrepresented among most STEM degree recipients (National Science Foundation 2013). The origins of this underrepresentation might emerge from inequalities in the opportunities to learn these disadvantaged groups received through their K-12 education years.

Two-year colleges (community colleges) provide college opportunity to students who otherwise might not go to college. This access is particularly important for low-income youth because these two-year colleges are of lower cost than four-year colleges. They also operate under a policy of "open admission," where anyone with a high school diploma may attend, regardless of prior academic status or college entrance exam scores. This research aims to test if these two-year colleges serve as important gateways to post-secondary education for members of underrepresented groups. Specifically, this article aims to test what impact community college attendance following high school has on students’ probability of successfully completing a STEM major in a four-year college.

To answer the research question we frame our discussion on sociological theories that address the structural roots of inequality: the social structure, individual differences, and the interplay between these factors. That is, individuals choosing to make investments in opportunities will benefit, but the opportunities must be present in order for the individual to make the investment (Charles, et al. 2007). Parameters of individual choice are constrained or facilitated by factors including gender, race, social class, and the region in which individuals reside (Stearns, et al. 2014). We also draw on theories of cumulative disadvantage, including Valian’s (1998) argument that current inequality reflects the sum of a succession of small events. We apply the cumulative disadvantage perspective by examining the succession of educational events, starting in middle school and continuing through college, that collectively build upon each other to affect students’ participation in STEM fields.

Our analyses utilize a longitudinal dataset that includes information about middle school, high school, two-year colleges and four-year college characteristics and students background for the cohort of students who graduated high school in 2004 and entered one of North Carolina's 16 public four-year universities between 2004 and 2010. Our data allows us to recognize if the students attended a two-year college before transferring to a four-year college, and therefore allows us to evaluate whether community colleges have a significant role in helping disadvantaged minorities and students from lower SES backgrounds declare and graduate with STEM majors when in a four-year college.

We will examine the students’ likelihood of majoring in and graduating with STEM degrees for different groups of students (based on race/ethnicity, SES) through hierarchical, cross-classified logit modeling. Results will show whether two-year colleges are a means of reducing inequality in regard to who earns a four-year STEM .