Document Body

Prepared under Contract
#SED 92-55369

by
Laure Sharp
Nancy Carey
Joy A. Frechtling
Ken Burgdorf
Westat, Inc.

December 1994
NSF Program Officer
Conrad Katzenmeyer

Directorate for Education
and Human Resources

The Foundation welcomes proposals from all
qualified scientists and engineers, and strongly
encourages women, minorities, and persons with
disabilities to compete fully in any of the research
and related programs described here.

In accordance with federal statutes,
regulations, and NSF policies, no person on
grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin,
or disability shall be excluded from participation
in, denied the benefits of, or be subject to
discrimination under any program or activity

receiving financial assistance from the National
Science Foundation.

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and
Engineers with Disabilities (FASED) provide
funding for special assistance or equipment to
enable persons with disabilities (investigators and
other staff, including student research assistants)
to work on an NSF project. See the program
announcement or contact the program
coordinator at (703) 306-1636.

PREFACE
This report summarizes the findings of an
exploratory study of the short-term impact of the
National Science Foundation's Young Scholars
Program (YSP). The program awards grants on
a competitive basis to projects located at higher
education or advanced research facilities that can
provide students with an intellectually stimulating
research experience.

A data base containing information about
funded projects, students who applied to the
program, and students who participated in the
program has been maintained since 1988 under a
contract between NSF and the COSMOS
Corporation. Participating students are also
followed up 1 year after their participation, and
beginning in 1993, their scholastic careers are

being tracked annually through their sophomore
year in college.

In 1994, NSF awarded a task order to Westat,
Inc., to conduct a series of informal
conversations with small numbers of 1991
participants and applicants who did not
participate; conversations were also conducted
with a few parents of the 1991 participants. The
purpose of these conversations was to explore in
depth some of the short-term impacts of the YSP
experience and to probe further the impacts
suggested by an examination of the data base
with respect to commitment to careers in science,
mathematics, engineering, and technology.

CONTENT
Page

PREFACE ..................................................................................................................... i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................... v
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
Background .................................................................................................. 1
Methodology................................................................................................. 1
Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 2. CONVERSATIONS WITH PARTICIPANTS .......................................... 5
General Impact of Participation ..................................................................... 5
The Application Process................................................................................ 8
Current Status and Current Plans for Further Education and for Careers........ 10
The Impact of YSP ....................................................................................... 17
Putting It All Together .................................................................................. 18

CHAPTER 3. CONVERSATIONS WITH NONPARTICIPANTS .................................. 25
Introduction .................................................................................................. 25
Characteristics of Nonparticipants................................................................. 25
Reasons for Nonparticipation in the YSP Program......................................... 25
Participation in Similar Types of Programs.................................................... 26
Current Status of Nonparticipants ................................................................. 26
Further Education ......................................................................................... 26
Career Plans ................................................................................................. 28

CHAPTER 4. CONVERSATIONS WITH PARENTS .................................................... 31
Introduction .................................................................................................. 31
Topics Covered in Conversations................................................................... 32
Findings........................................................................................................ 32
Conclusion.................................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................... 39
TECHNICAL APPENDIX - SAMPLING AND DATA COLLECTION DESIGN,
PROCEDURE, AND OUTCOMES.............................................................. 41

LIST OF TABLES
E-1 Demographic characteristics of participants and nonparticipants in
weighted Westat samples............................................................................... vi

1-1 Demographic characteristics of participants and nonparticipants in
weighted Westat samples............................................................................... 3

2-2 Did participants establish any significant (mentoring) relationships
with adults through the Young Scholars Program? ......................................... 7

2-3 Did participants establish any networks with other participants? .................... 8

2-4 How participants learned about the Young Scholars Program (first
source mentioned) ......................................................................................... 9

2-5 Who encouraged participant to apply? ........................................................... 9
2-6 1994 status of 1991 participants.................................................................... 10
2-7 Plans for future education.............................................................................. 11
2-8 Participants' plans for field of graduate study................................................. 12
2-9 Choice of college major (actual or anticipated) of participants,
by gender ...................................................................................................... 13

2-10 College major (anticipated and actual) of participants, by gender
and ethnicity (grouped data) .......................................................................... 14

2-11 College major of YSP participants now in college and all U.S. students
in 4-year colleges in 1989.............................................................................. 14

2-12 Career plans for participants, by gender and ethnicity .................................... 15
2-13 Career plans (by major or anticipated major) of participants, by gender.......... 16
2-14 Career plans (by major or anticipated major) of participants,
by ethnicity ................................................................................................... 16

2-15 Percentage of participants reporting very strong interest in science at
3 points in time ............................................................................................. 17

2-16 Impact of YSP on career plans ...................................................................... 19
2-17 Perception of SEM professions...................................................................... 20
3-1 Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their reasons for not
attending the YSP, by gender......................................................................... 26

3-2 Percentage of students indicating that they had participated in a
similar type of program, by gender ................................................................ 26

3-3 Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their post-college plans,
by gender ...................................................................................................... 27

3-4 Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their anticipated and actual
college majors, by gender .............................................................................. 28

3-5 Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their career plans, by gender ............ 29
4-1 Characteristics of all YSP participants in Westat study and of those
whose parents were interviewed..................................................................... 31

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
The Young Scholars Program (YSP) was
designed to inform and excite students about
science, engineering, mathematics, and
technology and to encourage them to investigate
and pursue careers in these fields. The program
targets bright, promising students, most of whom
have a record of high achievement and an
interest in science and science-related fields.
Experiences offered to students are very diverse,
including programs on university and college
campuses, on research vessels and at
archeological digs, at museums and zoological
gardens, and in industry. The experiences vary in
duration from 3 to 8 weeks and are generally held
over the summer.

Through participation in YSP projects,
students are expected to

· gain greater knowledge of and exposure to
science, engineering, mathematics, and/or
technology, obtaining the information
needed for making realistic decisions based
on the full range of career options;

· develop interests in research and in science
and mathematics education as possible
career choices;

· become aware of the academic preparation
necessary for such careers;

· become acquainted with the environment
and resources of universities, colleges, and
research organizations; and

· gain increased confidence in their ability to
make career decisions.

The short-term impact study reported here
focused primarily on the second of these goals,
but information with respect to the other four
goals was also supplied by study participants and
is reported here. Since 1988, a longitudinal data
base has been maintained to track former
participants; this data base also focuses on career
choices, and one of the aims of the present study
was to elucidate some of the information that the

data base has yielded. In this report, we present
both soft indicators, that is, the students' selfassessment
of the extent to which the program
affected their interest in science, engineering, and
mathematics (SEM), and harder indicators about
the students' study and career plans as reflected
in the choice of college majors and the actual
careers they were considering.

Findings
The study indicates that the Young Scholars
Program offers an educational experience that is
seen by almost all participants to be stimulating,
exciting, and challenging. However, its impact
on the SEM pipeline is far less clear.

The findings present a dilemma for those
seeking a simple answer to whether or not the
program was successful. Despite participants'
enthusiastic comments about the quality of the
learning experience, we found few differences in
college majors and career choices between the
participants and those who applied, but for a
variety of reasons failed to attend. Both groups
started out with a very high interest in SEM
fields, maintained or increased this interest from
1991 to 1994, chose an SEM field for a major
approximately three times more frequently than

the population overall, and elected to pursue
SEM-related careers in substantial numbers. In
addition, a large number will go on to pursue
careers in the medical field, which many of the
respondents feel is a choice of an SEM-related
career.

Our major findings can be summarized as
follows:

The YSP experience was a very positive
one for the overwhelming majority of
participants. They have gained awareness of a
science-oriented community of professionals
and high achieving students, have learned a
good deal about various fields, and especially
have learned about themselves and their
professional interests. They have become
more focused and more sure of themselves.

Table E-1
Demographic characteristics of participants and nonparticipants in weighted Westat samples

Characteristics Participants
(N=3,398)

Nonparticipants
(N=6,231)

Percent in junior high (grades 7-9) ................................... 50 54
Percent in senior high (grades 10-12) ............................... 50 46

Percent female ................................................................. 56 56
In junior high ............................................................. 57 59
In senior high ............................................................. 54 53

Percent male .................................................................... 44 44
In junior high ............................................................ 43 41
In senior high ............................................................ 46 47

Percent African American ................................................ 20 16
In junior high ............................................................. 32 19
In senior high ............................................................. 8 13

Percent white (non-Hispanic) ........................................... 56 56
In junior high ............................................................. 47 56
In senior high ............................................................. 64 55

Percent other minorities 1 ................................................. 24 23
In junior high ............................................................. 20 15
In senior high ............................................................. 28 32

The students told us:
It was one of those experiences that
you really never forget (10th grade
white male student).

The YSP gave me greater
confidence, knowledge and overall
it helped my self-esteem. I knew
that I could fulfill my dream as a
result (8th grade Native American
female student).

I experienced a different level of
learning at the YSP that I had not
experienced previously (10th grade
Hispanic male student).

It gave me the opportunity to do
hands-on research and have a
chance to try out something I was
considering doing for a career
(11th grade white female student).

It was so superior an experience in
every way that there is no
comparison. I am truly grateful to
the YSP and I do not know how
much further I should go in giving
it great kudos (10th grade white
male student).

The great majority of participants entered
the program with a strong interest in science,
engineering, and mathematics. This interest
was further strengthened by the YSP
experience, especially among junior high
school students, for whom the effects were not
only strong but also persistent. But interest in
science is not a perfect predictor of career
choice: our data show that it is compatible
with anticipated careers as practitioners in the
health professions and with careers in other
fields. The majority of participants are indeed
considering careers in SEM fields or the
health professions. When asked about the
extent to which these decisions had been
influenced by the YSP experience,
reinforcement of earlier choices and subfield
selections were most often mentioned. There
is no evidence that participation in YSP has
had an impact on the SEM pipeline in terms of
increasing potential recruitment of previously

undecided students or of students who had
considered careers in fields other than SEM or
health.

Figure E-1 shows the actual and planned
college majors of the participating and
nonparticipating students. Figure E-2 shows the
expected career choices for these same groups.

As these figures show, there is strong interest
in SEM majors on the part of students from both
groups. Of those currently enrolled in college, 65
percent of the participants and 72 percent of the
nonparticipants indicate that they have chosen to
major in the SEM fields. While these numbers
are substantially larger than those reported for
the population overall,1 we can find no advantage
for Young Scholars Program participants over
those who applied to the program but did not
attend.

The picture with regard to career plans is very
similar. Of those currently enrolled in college, 41
percent of the participants and 42 percent of the
nonparticipants indicate that they plan to pursue
a career in SEM fields.

The data also show that although our
sample is thin with respect to gender and
minority subgroups of participants, we can
tentatively conclude that the program has been
especially encouraging or reinforcing to
African American students and least encouraging
or reinforcing to females in their decisions
to select careers in the SEM fields. Seventyone
percent of the participating African
American students who are now in college
plan a career in the SEM fields. Only 33
percent of the females indicate such a choice.

Taken together, these findings suggest that
there is little evidence that participation in the
Young Scholars Program, in and of itself, is a
strong determiner of future pursuit of SEM
careers. Rather, the program may better be
described as one aspect of the mosaic of
experiences that lead bright, motivated students
to pursue advanced degrees and select
challenging professional roles. Given the target

Figure E-1. Choice of college majors
Junior High

Senior High

21% 24%

49%

65%
2

Nonparticipants

Nonparticipants Participants

Participants

(anticipated)

1)

(actual)

2)

SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 1991 junior high school participants were in high school in 1994; their responses referred to planned college majors.

2 1991 senior high school participants were in college in 1994; their responses referred to the actual majors they had chosen.

Figure E-2. Career plans
Junior High

Senior High

Nonparticipants

Nonparticipants

Participants
Participants

(anticipated)

1)

2)
(anticipated)

SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 1991 junior high school participants were in high school in 1994.

2 1991 senior high school participants were in college in 1994.

of the Young Scholars Program and the students
that it attracts, it may be unrealistic to expect
participation to have dramatic effects on their
behaviors. They begin with a very proactive
stance toward learning in general and science in
particular. But the effects that were noted are
not negligible: few of these science-oriented
students have become discouraged by the realworld
settings and tasks they have experienced,
and many have further focused their interests and
made valuable professional contacts. Refocusing
this interest and contributing to their continued
excitement as learners is an end of considerable
merit.

The findings regarding African Americans
and females are cause both for optimism and
concern. The program clearly seems to have an
especially reinforcing impact on African
Americans. In contrast, while females are
equally positive about the program and derive

important networking opportunities from
participation, they differ substantially in the
ultimate selection of majors and careers in SEMrelated
areas. The limitations of our sample and
the design of our protocols does not allow us to
do more than touch the surface of both of these
important findings. These are, however, areas
that NSF might wish to look at more closely.

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Background
The Young Scholars Program (YSP) was
designed to excite students about science,
engineering, mathematics and technology and to
encourage them to investigate and pursue careers
in these fields. The program targets bright,
promising students, most of whom have a record
of high achievement and an interest in science
and science-related fields. Experiences offered to
students are very diverse, including programs on
university and college campuses, on research
vessels and at archeological digs, at museums
and zoological gardens, and in industry. The
experiences vary in duration from 3 to 8 weeks
and are generally held over the summer. Students
may participate in more than one program, and in
the same program for more than one summer.

Since 1988, a YSP longitudinal data base
containing information on applicants and
participants has been maintained by the
COSMOS Corporation. Followup data on
participants have been collected 1 year after their
summer experience, and a second followup has
been added recently. The data base and followup
surveys provide some basic demographic data on
students, as well as on a limited number of
questions such as science and engineering
courses taken in relevant fields, potential college
majors, and the likelihood that students will
select careers in science, engineering, or
mathematics (SEM).

This data base, especially data collected on
students who participated during the summer of
1991, has been used to provide some limited
information on program impact.2 In general,
analyses using the data base show that positive
attitudes toward, and interest in, SEM fields were
maintained and even increased for program
participants. The findings were similar regardless
of race, gender, or socioeconomic status. The

2 Raber, Suzanne M. The Young Scholars Program: Attitudes of
Secondary Students Toward Careers in Science and Mathematics
Before and After Participating in an NSF Enrichment Program.
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 8,
1994.

extent of this increase was, however, limited at
least in part because of the initially high interest
levels of the participants and a possible ceiling
effect in the data. Further, because only about
half of the original participants responded to the
surveys, the generalizability of the findings is
unclear. That is, it is possible that only those
who maintained a relatively high interest in SEM
chose to respond.

The purpose of the present study is to gather
more comprehensive impact data on the Young
Scholars Program. The study looks at students'
perceptions of their experiences in the program,
at the educational and career plans and choices of
these students, and at the perceived impact of
their experiences in the program on these choices.
In addition, information was also collected from
the parents of participants and from students who
applied to, but did not attend, a Young Scholars
Program in the summer of 1991.

Methodology
Sampling Procedures. With a goal of
conducting interviews with 240 respondents, we
drew an initial sample of 472 subjects from the
Young Scholars Program data base. The large
initial sample was used to allow for anticipated
difficulties in locating and contacting a sizable
proportion of these students.3 Of the 285
students for whom we obtained data, 84 had been
classified as nonparticipants in the COSMOS
files. During our conversations, we found that
14 of these "nonparticipants" had actually
participated in the YSP.4 Thus, the final sample
consisted of 215 participants and 70
nonparticipants.5

3 In reality, we found that contacting students was far easier than we
had expected. During the time allocated for data collection,
conversations were conducted with over 60 percent of the initial
sample, a total of 285 students.

4 This was not unexpected as COSMOS reported to us that
participant surveys are not submitted by approximately 20 percent
of those who are actually served.

Three other factors were considered in
defining the sample. First, we sought to include
a stratified sample of those who had responded to
the 1993 followup study conducted by COSMOS
and those who had not so that we could compare
the two groups. Second, we looked at students'
interest in becoming a scientist, engineer, or
mathematician as reported in the earlier surveys
analyzed by COSMOS staff.6 Of central interest
for our purposes was ensuring that our
participant sample included individuals whose
patterns of expressed career interest varied.
Thus, we made sure that our sample incorporated
those who had retained a high level of interest in
entering such careers as reported in the 1993
followup survey, those whose interest had
decreased, those whose interest had increased
from application to the 1992 survey, and those
who had indicated no interest in SEM careers at
both times. Finally, we attempted to include
roughly equal numbers of participants from
grades 7 to 9 and 10 to 12.

It is also important to note that we made no
attempt to do any sampling by program. Given
our sample size, and the fact that somewhere
between 6,000 and 7,000 students attend the
program each summer, a wide variety and
diversity of programs are represented in this
study. Our findings, and the conclusions we
draw, reflect the impact of the program overall
but do not provide an accurate assessment of a
particular program on its participants.

As explained in the Technical Appendix, prior
to the analysis the data were weighted to reflect
the actual distribution of subgroups in the total
population of applicants and participants.
Because of statistical considerations, we decided
to exclude the 14 students originally classified as
nonparticipants from the analyses based on
weighted data. As shown in Table 1-1, the
participant sample includes roughly the same
numbers of students who had been in junior and
in senior high school in 1991; among
nonparticipants, the proportion of junior high
school students is higher. As was the case for the
entire population of applicants and participants,

6 See, for example, U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 1993,
Table 207.

females compose a slightly higher proportion of
the survey respondents than do males.7

In addition to student interviews,
conversations were conducted with 52 parents of
participants, and a special effort was made to
reach parents of minority participants. Given the
sample selection and the small number of
conversations, these data have not been weighted
and no quantitative analyses were carried out.

Data Collection. A telephone interview
protocol was developed to guide the
conversations. Although the exact questions
varied from respondent to respondent, the menu
of topics covered included the following:

For participants
· General impact of participating in a Young
Scholars Program

· Opinions regarding the application process
· Current status of the participant
· College major (planned or actual) and
plans for post-college education and
careers

· Impact of YSP participation on career
plans

· General reactions

For nonparticipants
· Reasons for nonparticipation
· Current status of the nonparticipant
· College major (planned or actual) and
plans for post-college education and
careers

· Career plans

Table 1-1
Demographic characteristics of participants and nonparticipants in weighted Westat samples

Characteristic Participants
(N=3,398)

Nonparticipants
(N=6,231)

Percent in junior high (grades 7-9) ................................... 50 54
Percent in senior high (grades 10-12) ............................... 50 46

Percent female ................................................................. 56 56
In junior high ............................................................. 57 59
In senior high ............................................................. 54 53

Percent male .................................................................... 44 44
In junior high ............................................................ 43 41
In senior high ............................................................ 46 47

Percent African American ................................................ 20 16
In junior high ............................................................. 32 19
In senior high ............................................................. 8 13

Percent white (non-Hispanic) ........................................... 56 56
In junior high ............................................................. 47 56
In senior high ............................................................. 64 55

Percent other minorities 1 ................................................. 24 23
In junior high ............................................................. 20 15
In senior high ............................................................. 28 32

1 Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic. See Technical Appendix, Table 5, for details.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Data Analysis
Approach. Our initial reading of the
conversations pointed to considerable differences
in the findings for students who were in junior
high school at the time of participation and those
who were in senior high school. In particular, the
high school students were already in college when
they were interviewed, most of them in their
sophomore or junior year, and most had chosen
their majors and made the career decisions that
result from these choices. We therefore decided
to analyze and present the data separately for the
two grade levels throughout this report. For most
topics, we also show findings separately for
females and males. However, given the small
number of cases on which the weighted data are
based, it was neither appropriate to analyze data
for all ethnic subgroups, nor could we provide a
comprehensive analysis of gender within ethnic
group; we therefore show data separately only
for the African American and white subgroups.

Initially, we had also planned to look at the
responses in terms of changes in expressed
interest in a career in science. However, our
conversations with students indicated that what is
meant by "science" and a "career in science"
varied considerably from student to student. (For
example, some considered the medical
professions to be a career in science; others did
not.) And, it is unlikely that a common definition
was shared by those initially classified into the
same group. Given the uncertainty of what these
responses from students really meant, we
abandoned the analysis.

critical impact variables. We therefore combined
these groups for analytic purposes.

Measuring Program Impact. The goal of
the Young Scholars Program is to encourage,
develop, or reinforce student interest in science,
engineering, mathematics, and technology and to
stimulate students' interest in pursuing careers in
the SEM fields. One way to measure the extent to
which the program is accomplishing this goal is
to obtain the students' own assessment about the
extent to which the program has stimulated or
reinforced their interest in SEM. Another is to
look at harder indicators, i.e., the extent to which
participants have taken realistic steps toward the
pursuit of SEM careers, which for students in
this age group is reflected in the planned or
actual selection of their college major, and for
students approaching the end of their college
years, in specific career plans or selection of
fields of graduate or professional study.

One troubling issue in judging this outcome --
a familiar one to NSF policymakers -- is that the
definition of "a career in SEM" is often
perceived in ways that may not be congruent with
the NSF mission. Thus, some students and
parents felt that SEM careers were being pursued
when students' high interest in mathematics and
computers led to the choice of a college major in

business or accounting and/or career choices in
these fields. More frequently, many students and
their parents see careers in one of the health
occupations as careers in science. Thus, students
who reported early interest in science and the
strengthening of their interest through the YSP
include high proportions who are interested in
careers in nursing, medical practice, physical
therapy, and other health professions, as well as
others who are thinking about doing medical
research.

In this report, we will be presenting both soft
indicators (the students' self-assessment of the
extent to which the program has affected their
interest in SEM) and harder indicators about the
students' study and career plans.

CHAPTER 2. CONVERSATIONS WITH PARTICIPANTS
General Impact of Participation
This section presents the participants' general
reactions to their experiences in the Young
Scholars Program. The opinions volunteered by
the respondents leave no doubt that participation
was a very positive experience for almost
everyone.

Program Characteristics. The interviewer
started the conversation with some questions
about the program the participant had attended,
its duration, and some of its features. The
conversation then moved rapidly in the direction
of opinions and attitudes: What were the best
features of the program? How about the worst
ones? What are adjectives that you would use to
characterize the program? This first set of
introductory, loosely structured questions set the
tone for the interview and encouraged the free
expression of comments, including those that
were critical.

In the discussion about positive and negative
aspects of the program, a wide range of best
features and positive adjectives was offered,
whereas many students could not think of
anything negative to say. This was true of both
the younger (grades 7-9 in 1991) and older
(grades 10-12) participants. Positive features
mentioned by both groups include their
enjoyment of the field trips, hands-on activities,
participation in experiments, and exposure to a
college environment and laboratory facilities.

There were some differences in the opinions
of the two groups, however. For example,

· While both groups singled out the quality
of the instruction and the opportunity to
meet other students and spend time with
them as best features, younger students
most often mentioned this social aspect,
whereas older students were most likely to
talk about the high quality of the
instructors.

· Younger respondents were somewhat more
likely to talk about becoming more
confident about science and computers,
whereas the older group spoke about
specific pieces of scientific equipment or
research projects and presentations by
outside speakers.

But there can be no doubt that both groups
derived a great deal of stimulation from their
campus experience.

It is notable that over one-fifth of respondents
in both groups could not think of a single "worst"
aspect; of those who could, the largest number
felt that the program was too short; a few thought
it was too long or too difficult. Many of the
complaints dealt with nonacademic matters: hot
classrooms, poor air conditioning, bad food,
curfew regulations. But there were also some
complaints about specific classes, lack of
structure, and too much sitting and listening.

The following are some typical comments:
It was one of those experiences that
you really never forget (10th grade
white male student).

The YSP gave me greater
confidence, knowledge and overall
it helped my self-esteem. I knew
that I could fulfill my dream as a
result (8th grade Native American
female student).

I experienced a different level of
learning at the YSP that I had not
experienced previously (10th grade
Hispanic male student).

It was so superior an experience in
every way that there is no
comparison. I am truly grateful to
the YSP and I do not know how
much further I should go in giving
it great kudos (10th grade white
male student).

The very positive overall assessment by these
participants is further reflected in their choice of
adjectives to characterize the program: "fun" was
the first choice of both groups, with 28 percent of
the younger group and 19 percent of the older
group offering this choice. "Educational" was a
strong second, and "good" was third. Only a
handful of respondents came up with a negative
characterization (boring, exhausting, scary,
disorganized).

Comparing the YSP Program with School
Experience. Further confirmation of the positive
feelings toward the program were also found
when the respondents were asked to compare the
YSP experience with that of coursework taken in
science and math during the school year (Table
2-1). The most frequent comments related to the
observation that instruction had more depth and
more breadth. Students also commented about
the greater use of hands-on activities and the
higher quality of teachers.

African American students who were in high
school when they participated mentioned "better
teachers" most often; they also often mentioned
the difficulty of YSP compared to their regular
coursework.

Table 2-1
Comparison of YSP experience with coursework
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Answer
Female

(N=977)

Male
(N=727)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,704)

Female
(N=921)

Male
(N=773)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,086)

Total 1
(N=1,694)

(percent) (percent)

Better teachers ................................ 3 10 13 0 6 9 26 37 18 17
More hands-on................................ 22 21 23 27 22 20 12 26 16 16
More teacher-student interaction.... 8 2 10 0 5 1 0 0 1 *
More depth; more sophisticated ..... 18 29 38 14 23 17 19 5 18 18
YSP more difficult.......................... 4 3 1 6 4 3 8 26 3 5
More emphasis on thinking,
problem solving ............................ 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 3 3
Other 2 ............................................. 43 36 15 52 40 47 31 7 43 40
Don't know...................................... 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0

*Denotes a number less than .5 percent and greater than 0 percent.
1 Includes minority groups not included in table.

2 Sample responses classified as other are "everyone there wanted to be there," "more interesting," and "there is no comparison."

Long-Term Connections Established
Through YSP. We also looked at the extent to
which close association between staff and
students and among the students themselves, a
frequent characteristic of these programs, leads
to strong mentoring relationships and networks.
The findings suggest that this was indeed the case
for about half of the participants with respect to
staff, and that about half of these relationships
lasted beyond the life of the program.

As shown in Tables 2-2 and 2-3, there were
some differences depending on respondents'
ethnicity and gender: African American students
were more likely to report continuing
relationships with staff, and females most often
remained in contact with adult mentors after the
program ended. With respect to networks among
students, about three-fourths of the participants
indicated that such networks had, in fact, been
established. In many cases, these were primarily
social, but for some students, especially those
who had been in the upper grades at the time they
participated, this networking included exchanging
correspondence, some by E-mail, on SEM
subjects of common interest; others found
themselves at the same college or university as a
fellow participant.

Continued networking with other participants
was consistently higher for females than for
males and for African Americans than for whites.
For females, this difference is especially large at
the 10-12 grade level, where 83 percent of the
females compared to 64 percent of the males
indicated that networks were established.

Analysis by racial group shows that the
difference between African Americans and whites
is most prominent with regard to the
establishment of continuing networks -- 25
percent versus 5 percent for grades 7-9 and 21
percent versus 9 percent for grades 10-12. 8

Would Respondent Again Participate in a
Young Scholars Program? Although this
question is likely to be interpreted differently by
younger respondents (those still in high school
when they were interviewed) and older students,
it provides some indication of their feelings about
the program. As one might expect from the
earlier data in this section, the response was a
resounding "yes." Of those who discussed this
topic, 86 percent in the grades 10-12 group and
92 percent in the grades 7-9 group answered yes;
the others were more likely to answer "maybe, it
depends" rather than "no."

8 It would be very interesting to look at this finding by gender within
race given the gender results for the overall population.
Unfortunately, our sample size does not permit this level of
disaggregation.

Table 2-2
Did participants establish any significant (mentoring) relationships with adults through the Young
Scholars Program?
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Answer
Female

(N=977)

Male
(N=727)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,704)

Female
(N=870)

Male
(N=733)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,085)

Total 1
(N=1,643)

(percent) (percent)
No................................................... 43 43 32 49 43 46 57 44 52 51
Yes, but only while program
lasted ............................................ 7 22 25 3 13 12 11 9 15 11
Yes, beyond program..................... 36 22 23 34 30 33 16 23 20 25
Yes, no further information........... 14 14 21 15 14 9 13 23 11 11
Don't know..................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 2

Table 2-3
Did participants establish any networks with other participants?
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Answer
Female

(N=971)

Male
(N=727)

African
American
(N=559)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,698)

Female
(N=921)

Male
(N=733)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,086)

Total 1
(N=1,694)

(percent) (percent)
No ................................................... 22 28 14 32 25 17 36 25 32 26
Yes, only social............................... 2 4 7 2 3 4 17 7 6 10
Yes, SEM-related for
a short time ................................... 1 0 0 1 * 1 0 0 1 1
Yes, SEM-related for
a long time .................................... 16 10 25 5 13 9 7 21 9 8
Yes, no further information ............ 60 55 53 59 57 66 37 47 47 53
Yes, other........................................ 0 3 1 2 1 3 3 0 5 3

* Denotes a number less than .05 percent and greater than 0 percent.
SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Includes minority groups not included in table; excludes "no answer" to question.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Have Participants Recommended the
Program to Other Students? Perhaps a better
measure of the students' assessment of their
program experience can be found in the answers
to this question. Four out of five participants
among both junior high and senior high students
claim to have done so; some mentioned
specifically that they had urged their friends or
younger siblings to apply.

The Application Process
A second topic dealt with how the students
heard about the YSP program that first they
attended. Who influenced their decision to
apply? How did they feel about the application
process? We talked about this topic with the
participants to find out how eligible students
become aware of these programs and to
investigate the extent to which schools and
parents play a role in application decisions. Our
findings show that school staff are the principal
informants, but that staff and parents play
significant roles in the decision process.

Awareness of YSP. As shown in Table 2-4,
school staff, especially classroom teachers, are
by far the most frequent source of information
about the program: 43 percent of junior high
school students and 58 percent of those who were
in senior high school named a teacher as their

most frequent source. Other school staff,
especially counselors, and for a small number of
junior high school students, the principal, are
also important sources. The family is a distant
third, especially at the senior high school level.
Within the family, it is the mother more often
than the father who knows about the program;
this may be due in part to the absence of fathers
in some of the students' homes, and in part
because mothers who are employed as teachers
are knowledgeable about opportunities for
summer study programs.

The Decision To Apply. Teachers are also
most frequently mentioned as having encouraged
the students to apply to the program, but the role
of the family, and especially that of the mother, is
also crucial.9 The data presented in Table 2-5
suggest that there is an especially important role
played by the mothers of females and of African
American students. Forty-two percent of the
African Americans from grades 7-9 and 44
percent of those from grades 10-12 indicated
encouragement from their mothers. (The
comparable figures for whites are 27 percent and
12 percent.)

Table 2-4
How participants learned about the Young Scholars Program (first source mentioned)

Source Junior high (grades 7-9)
(N=1,704)

Senior high (grades 10-12)
(N=1,667)

(percent)
Teacher............................................................. 43 58
School counselor ............................................... 21 18
Mother.............................................................. 9 3
Father ............................................................... 3 2
Sibling, other relative........................................ 5 1
Friend ............................................................... 5 5
Other 1 .............................................................. 13 9
Do not remember .............................................. 0 4

1 Includes other sources mentioned by fewer than 2 percent of participants: principal, posters, pamphlets, brochures, projects, mail, the National
Science Foundation, the Young Scholars Program coordinator, newspapers, television, National Merit, minority fair, being a prior awardee.
NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Table 2-5
Who encouraged participant to apply?
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Answer
Female

(N=977)

Male
(N=695)

African
American
(N=527)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,704)

Female
(N=921)

Male
(N=733)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,086)

Total 1
(N=1,694)

(percent) (percent)
Teacher..................................... 34 39 20 37 36 55 39 30 53 48
School counselor....................... 7 12 18 4 9 8 12 5 11 10
Mother...................................... 34 24 42 27 30 12 17 44 12 15
Father ....................................... 5 4 4 7 5 6 4 0 5 5
Self ........................................... 10 7 6 13 9 10 21 21 12 15
Sibling, other relative ................ 1 9 6 4 4 1 4 0 1 2
Friend ....................................... 4 3 1 7 4 6 * 0 5 3
Principal ................................... 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Other......................................... 5 1 3 0 3 3 3 0 2 3

*Denotes a number less than .5 percent and greater than 0 percent.
1 Includes minority groups not included in table; excludes "no answer" to question.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

About half of all participants mentioned that
more than one person had encouraged them:
teachers, mothers, and fathers were most
frequently mentioned in second or third place.
From the interviews with parents (see Chapter 4),
there is considerable evidence that parents indeed
provided not only encouragement, but also help;
they secured application forms, which were not
always available in the schools, and made sure
that applications were actually completed and
mailed. From our interviews with parents, we

The Application Process. The application
process itself was not a very salient issue for
most applicants; the majority either did not
remember much about it or could not identify
specific features to praise or criticize. A few
respondents mentioned the essays, either as
strong or weak features, with the majority opting
for the strong category. Similarly, the need for
teacher recommendations was occasionally
mentioned; some respondents found it difficult to
obtain the cooperation of busy teachers. Others
liked the highly selective nature of the program,
since it was another way of ensuring the
predominance of qualified participants, which
they felt was one of the strengths of the program
they had attended. It would seem that a personal
interview was required by some programs and
not by others. Most often, the interview was seen
as one of the best features, and very few
respondents mentioned it as a negative aspect of
the application process. There were a few
complaints about fees, the long wait before
learning about acceptance, and the fact that the
program seemed to discriminate in favor of
specific minority groups.

Current Status and Current Plans for Further
Education and for Careers

Current Status. The participants who were
in junior high school at the time they participated
in the program were either still in high school or
had just completed the 12th grade when we spoke
with them. Those who were in high school in
1991 had completed their sophomore or junior
year of college. In our conversations with all
students we discussed college majors and longterm
career objectives.

Further Education. Not surprisingly, all the
participants in the Young Scholars Program are
committed to furthering their education and have
elected to, or planned to pursue their education
through the postsecondary years and beyond.
Table 2-6 shows that the vast majority of these
older participants (96 percent) were either in
college at the time of our conversations or
planned to enroll. Among the older students,
those who were not in college were either
working full time (all of these were females) or
had enlisted in the military.

Table 2-6
1994 status of 1991 participants

In grades 7-9 in 1991 Female
(N=977)

Male
(N=727)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,704)

(percent)
Completed 10th grade ............................................... 45 30 50 33 39
Completed 11th grade ............................................... 48 46 36 54 47
Completed 12th grade ............................................... 3 15 3 8 8
In college .................................................................. * 4 6 0 2
Other ........................................................................ 4 4 6 4 4

In grades 10-12 in 1991 Female
(N=921)

Male
(N=773)

African
American
(N=125)

White
(N=994)

Total 1,2
(N=1,650)

(percent)
College, Year 1......................................................... 1 0 7 * 1
College, Year 2......................................................... 27 40 41 29 33
College, Year 3......................................................... 59 53 52 60 57
College, Year 4......................................................... 6 4 0 5 5
Working, not in college ............................................. 6 0 0 5 3
In military ................................................................. 0 3 0 0 1

*Denotes a number less than .5 percent and greater than 0 percent.
1 Includes minority groups not listed in table; excludes "no answer" to question.

2 Numbers for females and males do not add to total because of missing data.

The younger participants planned to enroll in
college at about the same rate as the older
participants had done (Table 2-7). (We are not
discussing data by grade level for other ethnic
minorities because we do not have adequate
numbers in our sample.) The small proportion of
respondents who did not indicate that they
planned to go to college were either undecided or
thought they would enlist in the military.

Table 2-7 also presents the older students'
plans for graduate education (younger students
were not asked about planned graduate study).
These data again show that Young Scholars
participants have a very significant commitment
to advanced education. The majority of students
who had been in grades 10-12 at the time they
participated in the YSP and were now in college
said they were likely to go beyond the bachelor's
degree. The data further show that

· Plans for graduate education were
mentioned most frequently by African
American students, 73 percent of whom
had plans for immediate further study after
college.

· Only 53 percent of white students had
such plans; they were more likely to plan
to go to work. It is likely that more of the
white students planned to work after
college because more of them had majored
in engineering, a field where the
undergraduate degree is often a sufficient
credential for professional employment.

· Females were somewhat less likely than
males to express graduate school
intentions (55 percent versus 65 percent),
and more females planned to work (36
percent versus 20 percent of the males);
this may also be related to the college
major, since close to 9 percent of the
females were majoring in education.

· The most frequently mentioned graduate
field was health professions (Table 2-8).

Table 2-7
Plans for future education

Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Female
(N=977)

Male
(N=727)

Total
(N=1,704)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=808)

Total 1
(N=1,705)

(percent)
College ................................................ 94 96 95 92 99 95
Work ................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Military ............................................... 1 4 3 8 0 3
Don't know........................................... 5 0 3 0 2 3

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)

Female
(N=839)

Male
(N=721)

Total
(N=1,560)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,003)

Total 1
(N=1,560)

(percent)
Graduate school ................................... 55 65 60 73 53 60
Work ................................................... 36 20 29 25 36 29
Other 2 .................................................. 8 3 5 2 4 5
Don't know........................................... 1 12 6 0 7 6

1 Includes minority groups not listed in table; excludes "no answer" to question.
2 Includes military, housewife, missionary work, and voluntary service.

Table 2-8
Participants' plans for field of graduate study 1

Field of study Female
(N=464)

Male
(N=439)

African
American
(N=96)

White
(N=505)

Total 2
(N=903)

(percent) (percent)
Biological and Life Sciences ............................... 11 1 0 10 6
Computer and Information Sciences .................... 0 5 0 5 3
Engineering and Engineering Technologies ......... 18 20 25 21 19
Mathematics ....................................................... 6 0 25 1 3
Chemistry ........................................................... 0 5 0 0 3
Physics................................................................ 0 5 0 0 3
Other SEM ......................................................... 3 0 3 2 1
Undecided (including SEM)3 .............................. 10 19 29 11 14
Total SEM fields............................................ 48 55 82 50 52

Health Professions .............................................. 24 33 18 33 28
Education............................................................ 1 0 0 1 *
Architecture and Environmental Design .............. 0 2 0 2 1
Business and Commerce ..................................... 3 6 0 7 5
Other non-SEM................................................... 9 3 0 4 6
Undecided - not SEM.......................................... 6 0 0 0 3
Total other fields............................................ 42 44 18 47 43

Don't know.......................................................... 10 0 0 5 5
*Denotes a number less than .5 percent and greater than 0 percent.
SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Based on students who planned to go to graduate school and who were in grades 10-12 when they participated in the Young Scholars Program and in

college when they were interviewed in 1994.
2 Includes minority groups not listed in table; excludes "no answer" to question.

3 Includes students who were considering several fields and indicated that at least one of them was in SEM.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

College Major. One of the most important
outcome indicators to examine for an assessment
of the YSP is the students' choice of college
major. If a student majors (or plans to major) in
one of the SEM fields, there is no guarantee that
he or she will become a scientist, engineer, or
mathematician; but if the undergraduate major is
not in one of the SEM fields, it is unlikely that
the student will be able to become a scientist,
engineer, or mathematician. Table 2-9 shows
that among those students still in high school, 45
percent were planning to major in one of the
SEM fields; we have included here students who
said they were undecided, but indicated that at
least one of their choices was an SEM field.
Among those students actually in college, the
proportion was considerably higher (65 percent).

The proportion of students majoring or planning
to major in one of the SEM fields is somewhat
higher for males than for females, and somewhat
higher for whites than for African Americans
(Table 2-10). Possible explanations for the
differences in selection of SEM majors by junior
and senior high schools students may be greater
interest in YSP by the older SEM-oriented
students, or greater selectivity by YSP when
accepting students at that grade level.

Table 2-9
Choice of college major (actual or anticipated) of participants, by gender
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Major Female

(N=920)

Male
(N=662)

Total
(N=1,582)

Female
(N=866)

Male
(N=749)

Total
(N=1,615)

(percent) (percent)
Agriculture and Natural Resources ....... 0 2 1 0 0 0
Biological and Life Sciences ................ 8 0 5 17 6 12
Computer and Information Sciences ..... 0 1 * 0 7 3
Engineering and Engineering
Technologies..................................... 16 42 27 19 37 27
Mathematics ........................................ 1 0 1 9 0 5
Chemistry ............................................ 0 1 1 3 3 3
Earth Sciences ..................................... 0 0 0 0 * *
Physics................................................. 1 0 * 0 7 3
Social Sciences .................................... 0 1 * 4 1 2
Other SEM .......................................... 1 8 4 9 10 10
Undecided (including SEM)1 ............... 3 10 6 0 0 0
Total SEM fields............................. 30 65 45 61 71 65

Health Professions ............................... 25 12 20 7 12 9
Education............................................. 5 0 3 6 0 3
Architecture ......................................... 0 5 2 3 1 2
Business and Commerce ...................... 0 0 0 5 5 5
Language and Literature....................... 0 0 0 3 0 2
Communications .................................. 4 0 2 2 0 1
Other non-SEM.................................... 12 10 11 10 4 8
Undecided-not SEM............................. 17 7 13 3 4 3
Total other fields............................... 63 34 51 39 26 33

Don't know........................................... 7 1 4 0 3 1
*Denotes a number less than .05 percent and greater than 0 percent.
SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Includes students who were considering several majors and indicated that at least one of them was in SEM.

Table 2-10
College major (anticipated and actual) of participants, by gender and ethnicity (grouped data)
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Major 1
Female

(N=920)

Male
(N=662)

African
American
(N=515)

White
(N=764)

Total 2
(N=1,582)

Female
(N=866)

Male
(N=749)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,031)

Total 2
(N=1,615)

(percent) (percent)
Engineering and
Eng. Technologies ........................ 16 42 24 27 32 19 37 21 34 38
Other SEM...................................... 14 22 10 24 17 42 34 49 31 27
Health Professions .......................... 25 12 15 17 27 7 12 0 11 24
All other fields ................................ 38 23 51 26 20 32 14 30 21 9
Don't know...................................... 7 1 0 7 4 0 3 0 2 1

SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 See Table 2-9 for fields included in each group.

2 Includes minority groups not included in this table; excludes "no answer" to question.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Table 2-11
College major of YSP participants now in college and all U.S. students in 4-year colleges in 1989

Major

Percent of Westat
grade 10-12 sample 1
(N=1,591)

Percent of all
U.S. students 2,3
(N=4,088,900)

Agriculture and Natural Resources .................................................... 0 1
Biological and Life Sciences............................................................ 12 5
Computers and Information Sciences............................................. 3 3
Engineering and Engineering Technologies ................................... 28 9
Mathematics.................................................................................... 5 1
Other SEM................................................................................... 16 1
Social Sciences ................................................................................. 3 11

Health Professions ............................................................................ 9 9
Education.......................................................................................... 3 8
Architecture ...................................................................................... 2 2
Business and Commerce ................................................................... 5 22
Language and Literature (English) .................................................... 2 4
Communications/Journalism ............................................................. 1 3
Other non-SEM................................................................................. 11 20

SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Excludes students whose response was "don't know."

2 Excludes students whose major was not listed or who did not report a major.
3 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 1993, Table 207.

Table 2-12
Career plans of participants, by gender and ethnicity
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)

Career Female
(N=977)

Male
(N=695)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=776)

Total 1
(N=1,672)

Female
(N=918)

Male
(N=773)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,083)

Total 1
(N=1,691)

(percent) (percent)
Engineering .................................... 7 35 33 12 19 15 28 21 27 21
Computer Technology.................... 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 39 4 6
Other SEM...................................... 14 17 3 20 15 15 13 21 13 14
Health Professions .......................... 38 21 16 31 31 24 18 13 21 21
Elementary/Secondary
Teacher - Math or Science............ 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 0 5 5
Elementary/Secondary
Teacher - Other field
or field not identified .................... 6 0 8 2 3 3 0 0 0 1
Business .......................................... 1 5 6 1 3 5 5 0 7 5
Law................................................. 4 1 7 1 3 7 0 0 2 4
Other, not SEM............................... 19 10 26 15 15 9 7 7 9 8
No plans.......................................... 1 0 0 1 * 4 4 0 4 4
Don't know...................................... 9 10 2 17 10 10 11 0 8 11

* Denotes a number less than .05 percent and greater than 0 percent.
SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Includes minority groups not included in table.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

mathematics, computers and information
sciences, or one of the physical and life sciences
outnumber the proportion among all college
students by more than three to one (Table 2-
11).10

Career Plans. The data on career plans are
more ambiguous. Far fewer students plan to
become scientists, engineers, and mathematicians
than one might have anticipated from the majors
they had selected. However, many planned to
pursue careers in related fields. Table 2-12
shows that only 34 percent of the junior high and
41 percent of the senior high school participants
plan to enter SEM careers; the proportions are
considerably higher for males and for African
Americans. The proportion of students with
plans for careers in the health professions is very
high, and as we have previously discussed,
depending on one's definition, these can be seen
as science careers. (We cannot judge from our
interview data how many students are thinking

10 This excludes social sciences, but this category includes a mixture
of majors that could be considered both SEM and non-SEM.

about medical research or planning to become
practitioners such as physicians and nurses.)
Interest in career choices in the medical field is
also evident from students' choices of graduate
study fields, where health professions was the
field most often mentioned (Table 2-8). But
other career choices were also reported, often by
students who expressed considerable interest in
science. For example, 9 percent of the females
now in college are planning to become
elementary or secondary school teachers; law is
another field more often mentioned by females
now in college than by those still in high school.
Five percent of the males now in college are
planning to go into business fields; some
mentioned the computer field and/or indicated
that they planned to become self-employed in the
computer field.

highest among males and African Americans, and
lowest among females.

Tables 2-13 and 2-14 show the career choices
by students who anticipate majoring or are
majoring in various fields. Some highlights of
these findings follow:

· All the younger students and most of the
other students with majors (or anticipated
majors) in the health professions also plan
health careers.

Table 2-13
Career plans (by major or anticipated major) of participants, by gender
Grades 7-9 (N= 1,483)

Career Major
Engineering Other SEM Health Professions All other fields

Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
(percent)
Engineering ...................................... 37 69 0 23 0 0 0 16
Other SEM ....................................... 44 20 46 46 0 0 3 0
Health Professions ............................ 0 0 36 31 100 100 8 18
All other fields.................................. 4 0 5 0 0 0 83 66
Don't know........................................ 15 12 14 0 0 0 5 0

Grades 10-12 (N= 1,588)
Engineering ...................................... 69 69 8 0 0 0 0 0
Other SEM ....................................... 0 21 28 44 0 0 21 9
Health Professions ............................ 0 0 49 11 59 100 2 0
All other fields.................................. 15 0 12 34 0 0 74 91
Don't know........................................ 17 10 3 11 41 0 2 0

Table 2-14
Career plans (by major or anticipated major) of participants, by ethnicity
Grades 7-9 (N= 1,550)

Career Major
Engineering Other SEM Health Professions All other fields

African
American White

African
American White

African
American White

African
American White
(percent)
Engineering ...................................... 95 46 62 0 0 0 8 0
Other SEM ....................................... 0 27 15 53 0 0 2 4
Health Professions ............................ 0 0 23 40 100 100 0 4
All other fields.................................. 5 0 0 3 0 0 85 89
Don't know........................................ 0 27 0 3 0 0 5 4

Grades 10-12 (N= 1,612)
Engineering ...................................... 100 76 0 8 0 0 0 0
Other SEM ....................................... 0 10 85 34 0 0 60 19
Health Professions ............................ 0 0 15 34 0 79 17 0
All other fields.................................. 0 7 0 22 0 0 23 77
Don't know........................................ 0 8 0 1 0 21 0 3

Table 2-15
Percentage of participants reporting very strong interest in science at 3 points in time
In grades 7-9 in 1991 In grades 10-12 in 1991

Time Female
(N=969)

Male
(N=695)

African
American
(N=560)

White
(N=768)

Total 1
(N=1,664)

Female
(N=894)

Male
(N=759)

African
American
(N=125)

White
(N=1,055)

Total 1
(N=1,657)

(percent) (percent)
Before YSP..................................... 71 73 74 70 72 80 89 79 87 84
Immediately after YSP (1991)....... 91 95 93 96 93 93 98 100 97 95
At present (1994)............................ 91 95 93 94 93 80 93 93 88 86

1 Numbers of participants are for the 1994 data point. Numbers for other data points may vary slightly because of missing data. Total numbers
include minority groups not included in tables; excludes "no answer" to question.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

· Engineering majors also most often plan to
work in engineering or in other SEM fields
(in particular, computer technology), but a
fairly high proportion are undecided.

· Quite a few male students who major in
"other SEM fields" plan to work in health
fields; many of these are majoring in
biological and life sciences at the
undergraduate level.

· Most of those students who did not major
in engineering, other SEM fields, or health
professions did not expect to move into
these career fields, although some of them
do plan to do so.

The Impact of YSP
At various points in the conversations, we
sought to elicit the participants' view of the
impact of the YSP on their subsequent academic
and career decisions. This was not an easy task.
For example, we had hypothesized that after
participating in the program, some students might
be more likely to have elected additional or more
advanced courses in mathematics and/or science
during their remaining precollege years. This
was not a fruitful effort: most junior high school
students indicated that all their courses were
required by the curriculum, or that they were
further constrained by the availability of
offerings in the high schools they subsequently
attended. For the older students, many of them in
the second year of college, the question seemed
largely irrelevant.

On the other hand, we were somewhat more
successful with questions that were intended to
explore the students' interest in SEM at various
points in time. As shown in Table 2-15, the YSP
increased this interest for the overwhelming
majority of participants, regardless of gender or
ethnicity, although the increase was strongest for
males and white participants and least persistent
for females. It was especially strong and
persistent for junior high participants. But as
Raber pointed out,11 ceiling effects are very
strong: over 70 percent of those who applied and
participated in this program had a very strong
interest in science prior to participation.

Apparently these students saw no
inconsistency between interest in science and
choice of careers that do not fit the SEM
classification.12

When we discussed the impact of the program
on the choice of SEM careers, few students
addressed this topic in a clear-cut manner, except
for those who said it had no impact because their
plans were firm. A few students, especially in
the younger group, indicated that they had no
idea what careers in SEM, and especially

11 Raber, Susanne M. The Young Scholars Program: Attitudes of
Secondary Students Toward Careers in Science and Mathematics
Before and After Participating in an NSF Enrichment Program.
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 8,
1994.

engineering, were really like, and now that they
found out, they would consider them:

Prior to YSP, I didn't know what
engineering was all about (8th
grade white female student).

I was pretty directionless and the
YSP pointed me into a biology field
and that's where I still am (9th
grade female, ethnicity unknown).

But more often, students became aware of
their interests in a different SEM field or subfield
from the one they had thought about earlier:

Shifted interested from math to
science (9th grade white male
student).

Most often, the participants talked in more
general terms about the impact of the YSP on
their confidence to tackle SEM, of having gained
a better understanding of what the work was like
and what was required by way of background
knowledge, and of becoming aware of
opportunities in these fields:

The YSP made me a positive
person. It gave me so much
positive thinking for my future and
my life (11th grade Hispanic female
student).

It gave me a sense of confidence in
my own abilities in science (9th
grade African American female
student).

The program showed me that
competition exists but that I have
the competitive skills needed (9th
grade Hispanic male student).

On the other hand, there is no doubt that the
reality testing that the YSP provided for
participants might discourage some participants,
and here and there we found some evidence of
this: a few participants did not like the number
crunching, hard work, or monotony that they saw
as characteristic of SEM careers. But as Table
2-16 shows, such respondents were a minority.

We had also hypothesized that their decision
to elect SEM careers might have been influenced
by what participants learned during program
participation about future job opportunities and
the extent to which they themselves would fit into
the field. Although we have not fully explored the
data with respect to these issues, at first glance
they do not appear decisive, since the great
majority of all respondents held optimistic views
of job opportunities and especially of their own
prospects for succeeding and fitting in well. But
in both groups, females and African Americans
were often less positive than males and whites
(Table 2-17). While some respondents were able
to point to specific YSP elements that had helped
them to assess job prospects and the likelihood
that they would fit into these professions (faculty
were usually mentioned), many more cited the
increase in their self-confidence and their
congenial relations with students of similar
interest as important factors.

Putting It All Together
From the information that we have presented
in this chapter, we can point to three major
findings:

· The YSP experience has been a very
positive one for the overwhelming majority
of participants. They have gained
awareness of a science-oriented
community of professionals and high
achieving students, have learned a good
deal about various fields, and, especially,
have learned about themselves and their
professional interests. They have become
more focused and more sure of themselves.

Table 2-16
Impact of YSP on career plans
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Impact
Female

(N=945)

Male
(N=695)

African
American
(N=527)

White
(N=776)

Total 1
(N=1,640)

Female
(N=870)

Male
(N=773)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,034)

Total 1
(N=1,643)

(percent) (percent)
None (career plans
firm before YSP) .......................... 11 9 3 11 10 * 13 5 9 6
None (plans remain uncertain)....... 7 8 12 3 7 3 0 0 2 1
Made no difference, no further
information ................................... 12 15 24 7 13 16 24 25 22 20
Helped to focus choice
of career plan 2 .............................. 8 3 3 11 6 19 12 10 18 16
Familiarized me with
different SEM fields...................... 9 8 2 11 8 12 28 21 12 19
Increased my interest
in SEM 3 ........................................ 29 42 33 33 35 24 19 21 24 22
Decreased my interest
in SEM 4 ........................................ 6 0 8 2 3 9 3 0 6 6
Other 5 ............................................. 18 16 15 22 17 17 1 18 7 10

*Denotes a number less than .5 percent and greater than 0 percent.
SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
1 Includes minority groups not shown in table.

2 Plan may be SEM or not SEM.
3 Reasons most often given: because I became aware of new opportunities or challenges in SEM field; gained confidence in my ability to do SEM

work.
4 Reasons most often given: I became aware of my limitations; realized I did not really like SEM.

5 Included became more interested in computers, motivated respondents to study harder, more self-confidence.

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994..

with respect to specific choices and
subfield selections. But from a broader
perspective regarding potential entrants
into SEM fields, YSP did not appear to
have a significant impact.

· Although our sample is thin with respect
to gender and minority subgroups of
participants, we can tentatively conclude
that the program has been especially
encouraging or reinforcing to African
American students and less likely to
encourage or reinforce the decisions of
females to select careers in SEM fields.

To conclude this chapter, we present a few
vignettes summarizing the actual conversations

with some participants. They should give the
reader a feel for what the respondents told us
about themselves and their plans and may throw
light on some of the findings in these chapters.

Student #1 participated in YSP when he was
in the 7th grade and plans to become a scientist
or an engineer.

Table 2-17
Perception of SEM professions
Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Perception
Female

(N=836)

Male
(N=659)

African
American
(N=495)

White
(N=692)

Total 1
(N=1,495)

Female
(N=908)

Male
(N=760)

African
American
(N=132)

White
(N=1,065)

Total 1
(N=1,668)

(percent) (percent)
Perception of job prospects
Very good ....................................... 61 78 50 74 68 65 64 73 68 64
Field is very competitive 2 ............. 3 0 0 3 2 8 14 18 15 11
Good opportunities for
women and minorities .................. 8 5 15 3 7 1 0 0 1 1
Not good ......................................... 9 5 7 6 7 7 11 2 6 9
Other ............................................... 1 0 1 1 1 12 5 0 8 8
Don't know/Depends ...................... 18 12 26 13 15 7 7 7 3 7

Perception of own fit into SEM
professions
Good fit........................................... 79 88 75 84 83 73 90 93 78 81
Not good fit..................................... 5 0 7 2 3 15 6 7 13 11
Don't know/
Can't decide................................... 15 12 18 14 14 12 4 0 10 8

1 Includes minority groups not shown in table.
2 This is often followed by the statement, "but I would succeed."

NOTE: Percentage may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

C. commuted to the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology daily for 2 weeks to attend the
program at the Haystack Observatory. He liked
the program, especially because the lectures he
heard were given by "real scientists," although he
felt that some of them were too advanced. He
had further contact by E-mail with his mentor, an
atmospheric scientist whose project dealt with
solar cycles. He did not establish networks with
other participants because his project was not a
popular one, and therefore there was not much
interest among the other students.

He found out about the project from his
father, who brought home a pamphlet; his science
teacher also encouraged him to apply.

He has just completed the 10th grade with a
3.6 average, and plans to go to a 4-year
university and major in physics or in engineering.
So far, he has taken math courses through precalculus
and has completed three science courses.

He feels that the YSP experience has led to better
understanding in his science classes.

His career plans include obtaining a Ph.D.
and working in private industry or government.
He said that his interest in science was high
before the YSP, increased through the YSP
participation, and has continued to increase ever
since. Other than the YSP experience, he
attributes his interest in science to his father's
profession.

Student #2 participated in YSP when she was
in 8th grade and plans to become a nurse.

R.'s mother has a degree in business
administration; her father also has a college
degree but "has no involvement with the
children," according to the mother. This is an
African American family living in the Midwest.
The mother thinks her daughter's interest
developed in the ninth grade, and she believes
that the YSP may have had something to do with
it. They are giving the child "moral and financial
support" to encourage this interest, and they take
trips to science fairs and museums with her.

R. attended the GMI Engineering and
Management Institute for 3 weeks. She found
the program interesting, and especially enjoyed
the field trips. She mentioned a helpful and
encouraging relationship with one of the graduate
students in the program, and she also met some
of the participants again in other programs. She
found it rather difficult to write the essay that
was required for the application, and she also felt
that the application to the program put too much
emphasis on the GPA.

She has just completed the 11th grade and her
GPA is 3.0. After graduation, she plans to go to
college and become a nurse/midwife; she hopes
to earn a B.A. and an M.A. degree. Before
attending the YSP program, she had thought
about chemical engineering, but she now feels
that there were "things she didn't know" that
helped her decide to go into nursing. She was
also influenced by doing volunteer work in a
hospital. She summed up the interview by saying
that the impact of YSP on her future plans was
minimal, but that she enjoyed it.

Student # 3 participated in YSP when he was
in 9th grade and plans to become an engineer.

J.'s mother is a practical nurse, and his father
works as a welder and also as a driver. This
African American family lives in the Midwest.
The mother thinks her son showed an interest in
engineering during his first year in high school.
When asked how the parents encouraged or
supported him in pursuing his science and
engineering interests, she mentioned that they
always stressed the importance of further
education and setting goals.

J. participated in 1991 in a 6-week program at
Michigan State University; he had previously
participated in two YSP summer programs.
Although he found it "scary" to leave home for
that length of time, he enjoyed being in a campus
environment and being treated as an adult. He
felt that the courses were much more interesting
than his school work and mentioned that his
mentor was always there when needed and
encouraged followup meetings. He also reported
building several very close friendships with other
participants. His junior high school teacher had
given him a pamphlet about YSP, and the teacher
and his parents had urged him to apply. He
thought the applications were really, really hard,
and that some people could and did cheat on the
problems.

J. has just completed the freshman year at
Western Michigan University with a GPA of 3.0.
He is majoring in chemical engineering. He took
a college preparatory curriculum in high school
and three math courses and one introductory
science course in college and feels that the YSP
gave him a much better understanding of math
and science material. He received a scholarship
from a private company and hopes to get a job
with this firm after he graduates. He also
expects the company to pay for his studies for a
master's degree.

His interests have gone back and forth
between math and science; as a result of the YSP
experience he shifted from science to math, but at
present he likes both. He feels that the YSP gave
him a better feel for the engineering field and
made him even more optimistic about the field,
job prospects, and his suitability than he already
was before the program, which he summed up as
a great educational experience.

Student #4 participated in YSP when he was
in 11th grade and plans a medical research
career.

participate in "extra" science programs and took
him to science museums.

D. had been enrolled in a 6-week YSP
program dealing with research on
superconductivity (no further details available).
He spoke very enthusiastically about the
program, where he "really learned to do a
research project." He met with his professor on a
daily basis and still corresponds with other
students from the program who are now his best
friends. A friend of his mother told him about
the program, and his mother encouraged him to
apply. Subsequently, in 1993, he spent 8 weeks
in San Francisco in the hospital of the UC San
Francisco Medical School. He considers this a
comparable experience to YSP.

He has just completed his junior year at
Harvard, and he reports a double major in history
and science. During the summer of 1994, he is
working for a medical research company and also
studies radiology at a hospital.

He described a very specific career plan,
which consists of obtaining a medical degree and
then going into chemical research to study liver
regeneration. He explained that his interest has
always been in the field of medicine, but that the
YSP caused him to become interested in clinical
research. He thinks he will fit into this field "like
a hand in a glove," and that job prospects are
excellent. The YSP had a major impact on his
career decisions because it familiarized him with
research.

Student #5 participated in YSP when she was
in 11th grade and plans to become an
orthodontist in private practice.

S.'s mother is an elementary school teacher,
and her father is a cook. This is an African
American family. According to the mother, her
daughter did not seem very interested in science
until the year before she participated in YSP, but
now she is very interested. When asked if the
parents had encouraged or supported this
interest, the mother stated that "whatever she
chooses to do, we give constant encouragement."

S. attended a program at the University of
Buffalo that lasted 8 weeks and, in her words,
"involved lab experiments, research, and

presentations." What she liked best about it was
doing and interpreting research. She felt the
program was more advanced than the coursework
she had taken, involved more hands-on activities,
and was staffed by very knowledgeable
instructors. While in the program, she did not
establish significant relationships with her
mentor, instructors, or other participants. She
found out about the program through a notice
posted in the high school counselor's office, and
her mother, her chemistry teacher, and her
English teacher had encouraged her to apply.

At the time we talked with her, she was a
junior at the Rochester Institute of Technology,
majoring in chemistry/pre-med studies. After
graduation, she wants to go to dental school and
become an orthodontist in private practice. The
courses she took in the 12th grade and during the
first 2 years of college included advanced
calculus and quantitative analysis as well as
advanced science courses; she said that these
were standard for her major. She credited the
YSP with giving her more confidence and a
better understanding for this material.

She describes her career plan as very firm.
She also reports that she was very interested in
science prior to the YSP; her interest became
stronger after participation in the program, and is
even stronger now. The YSP helped her choose
the field she wants to study; she was further
influenced by a subsequent "science technology
enrichment program" at the University of
Buffalo. She sees herself fitting well into her
chosen field, where there will be a lot of job
opportunity, and feels that the YSP gave her the
confidence "that I could do it."

Student #6 participated in YSP when she was
in 10th grade and plans to become a math
teacher.

T. herself was less articulate and less worldly
than many of the other high school students with
whom we had conversed. When asked to
describe the program, she said that they "worked
on the Macintosh" with a text called CHAOS and
took field trips to visit Virginia Tech to see what
campus life was like. She loved the experience,
stressing how different it was from her high
school where there is no access to computers to
speak of ("we have so few IBMs"). She enjoyed
the program very much, and mentioned that
several graduate students have kept in touch with
her progress.

She had learned about the program through
her high school guidance counselor, who had
encouraged her to apply. Her high school
program included only required math and science
courses; participating in YSP helped her "a lot."

After graduating from high school, she started
college then stayed out for one semester and
worked. At the time of the interview, she was
back in college as a freshman with a math major.
After graduation, she wants to take a master's
program in math and then become a math teacher
"from the 8th grade down. I do not want high
school - the way those teachers are treated is
awful."

CHAPTER 3. CONVERSATIONS WITH NONPARTICIPANTS
Introduction
A sample of 84 applicants to the Young
Scholars Program who were identified as
nonparticipants was chosen to be interviewed as
part of this study of the program. As we
discovered in our initial conversations with them,
14 of these students had been classified
incorrectly and had, in fact, participated in YSP
during 1991. Therefore, the final sample of
applicants to the YSP who had not participated
was 70.

Informal telephone conversations with the
nonparticipants centered around the following
topics:

· Reasons for nonparticipation in the
program;

· Participation in any similar types of
programs;

· Current status of nonparticipants;
· College major (planned or actual) and
plans for post-college education; and

· Career plans.

Data from the 70 nonparticipants were
weighted to reflect the actual distribution of
subgroups in the total population of applicants.
This chapter begins with a description of the
demographics of the nonparticipants. The
remainder of the chapter presents the findings for
the nonparticipants, and, when applicable,
compares them to the findings for participants on
the outcome indicators, namely choice of college
major and career plans. Results are presented for
the entire sample, and separately for students
who were in junior high school (grades 7-9) and
for those who were in high school (grades 10-12)
at time they applied to the program. In addition,
results are broken down by gender. However,
because of the small sample size, the
nonparticipant data were not examined according
to ethnicity.

Characteristics of Nonparticipants
In general, there is little difference between
the participants and nonparticipants in terms of
grade level, gender, and minority status (see
Table 1-1). Of nonparticipants, females made up
56 percent of the total group--59 percent of the
junior high students and 53 percent of senior high
students. Also, 16 percent of nonparticipants
were African American, while 23 percent were
from other minorities. More students from other
minority groups were in senior high school (32
percent) than in junior high school (15 percent).
At both grade levels, about half of all
nonparticipants (56 percent) were white.

Reasons for Nonparticipation in the YSP
Program

Students were asked why they had not
participated in the YSP after applying in 1991.
More than half (63 percent) of all nonparticipants
reported that they had not been accepted into the
program (Table 3-1). About one-quarter (27
percent) indicated that their acceptance status
was unclear; either they had not heard if they had
been accepted, or they did not know or remember
this information at the time of the interview. Ten
percent reported that they had been accepted but
had made alternate choices, such as working or
staying at home.

Table 3-1
Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their reasons for not attending the YSP, by gender
All
non-

Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Reason participants
(N=5,499)

Female
(N=1,569)

Male
(N=1,046)

Total
(N=2,615)

Female
(N=1,518)

Male
(N=1,366)

Total
(N=2,884)

Not accepted ................................ 63 53 90 68 50 67 58
Accepted, chose not to attend ....... 10 0 0 0 25 6 16
Acceptance status unclear............. 27 47 10 32 25 28 26

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Table 3-2
Percentage of students indicating that they had participated in a similar type of program, by gender
All
non-

Junior high students
(grades 7-9)

Senior high students
(grades 10-12)
Participation participants
(N=5,510)

Female
(N=1,674)

Male
(N=1,255)

Total
(N=2,929)

Female
(N=1,442)

Male
(N=1,138)

Total
(N=2,580)

Yes .............................................. 35 37 33 36 32 40 35
No ............................................... 65 63 67 64 68 60 65

SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

Participation in Similar Types of Programs
Students who apply to programs like the YSP
tend to attend academic enrichment programs
during the summer. In fact, 30 percent of the
1991 participants in the YSP said that they had
also attended other programs either before or
after the 1991 YSP experience. Thirty-five
percent of nonparticipants also reported that they
had attended other programs (Table 3-2). There
were no differences on this variable between the
two age groups or between males and females.

Many of the alternative programs described
by respondents were sponsored by colleges or
universities. Others mentioned were statesponsored
programs, such as Missouri Scholars,
North Carolina Governor's Scholars, and the
Texas Prep program. (Apparently, students can
attend the Texas Prep program as an NSF Young
Scholar or through an alternative avenue.)

Current Status of Nonparticipants
As described in Chapter 2, students who were
in junior high school in 1991 when they applied
to the YSP were either still in high school or
about to enter college at the time of the interview.
Those who were in high school at the time of
application had completed their sophomore or
junior year of college. As with the participants,
our conversations with nonparticipants addressed
their plans for further education, choice of
college major, and, where applicable, field of
graduate study and career plans.

not sure of their plans at the time of the
interview.

All of the older students interviewed were
attending college. When asked whether they had
plans for after college, nearly three-quarters (67
percent) indicated that they planned to go to
graduate school (Table 3-3). Women were
somewhat more likely than men to express
graduate school intentions (70 versus 56).
Interestingly, this is the reverse of what was
found in the sample of participants, where men
were slightly more likely to express these
intentions than women.

College Major. As discussed in Chapter 2, in
assessing the impact of the YSP as a pipeline for
students entering SEM fields, choice of college
major is an important indicator. Table 3-4
presents the anticipated and actual college majors
of students who applied but did not

participate in the YSP. In order to assess the
degree to which these students choose SEM areas
of study and to compare them with those who did
participate in the YSP, we have collapsed major
fields into three broad categories: majors in the
fields of science, engineering, and mathematics,
majors in non-SEM areas, and majors in the
health professions.

Exactly half of the nonparticipants who were
still in high school indicated that they anticipated
majoring in some SEM area of study. Among
those already in college, nearly three-quarters (72
percent) reported that they were majoring in an
SEM area. In both age groups, males
outnumbered females in choosing majors in SEM
areas. However, an unexpected finding was that
the percentage of females nearly doubled between
those intending to major in SEM fields and those
who are actually majoring in them (34 to 65
percent).

Table 3-3
Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their post-college plans, by gender
Senior high students (grades 10-12)
Post-college plans Female
(N=1,518)

Male
(N=1,366)

Total
(N=2,884)

Graduate school ................................... 70 56 67
Work ................................................... 20 28 25
Don't know........................................... 10 16 8

Graduate school
field of study

Female
(N=1,063)

Male
(N=759)

Total
(N=1,822)

SEM.................................................... 21 50 34
Non-SEM............................................. 29 30 29
Health.................................................. 50 20 37

Intended employment Female
(N=304)

Male
(N=379)

Total
(N=683)

Computers ........................................... 0 20 33
Engineering ......................................... 0 60 11
Non-SEM............................................. 50 20 33
Health.................................................. 50 0 22

Table 3-4
Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their anticipated and actual college majors, by gender
Junior high (grades 7-9) Senior high (grades 10-12)
Anticipated major Female
(N=1,569)

Male
(N=1,360)

Total
(N=2,929)

Female
(N=1,518)

Male
(N=1,366)

Total
(N=2,884)

SEM.................................................... 34 70 50 65 78 72
Non-SEM............................................. 33 23 29 15 11 13
Health.................................................. 33 8 21 20 6 13
Don't know........................................... 0 0 0 0 6 3

SEM = science, engineering, and mathematics.
NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
SOURCE: Short-Term Impact Study of Young Scholars Program, National Science Foundation, 1994.

When these data are compared with those of
students who participated in the YSP program,
they are surprisingly similar. In fact, there are
virtually no differences between the two groups
for the younger students still in high school, and
only slight variations between the two groups for
those in college (see Table 2-9). Again, the
tendency for more females to actually major in
SEM areas compared to those who expressed
such intentions at a younger age also was evident
from the participant data.

While one might initially find this absence of
differences in choice of college major
unexpected, they are actually not surprising.
Students who apply to the YSP are motivated,
academically oriented young people. In addition,
they have demonstrated an interest in science,
engineering, or math by virtue of the fact that
they are aware of, and have applied to, a
program such as the YSP. Of those applicants
who either were not admitted or chose not to
attend, many found alternate routes to pursuing
their interests through other kinds of programs.

Post-College Education. A large percentage
(67 percent) of nonparticipants indicated that
they planned to go to graduate school after
college (Table 3-3). Among these students, the
most frequently mentioned areas of study were in
the health professions (37 percent). This is
similar to those participants who expressed
intentions of going to graduate school, of whom
29 percent indicated health-related areas.
Approximately one-third of the nonparticipants
expressed an interest in pursuing graduate study

in an SEM field, with slightly more participants
(43 percent) expressing such desires.

Career Plans
Twenty-five percent of the nonparticipants
who are already in college reported that they
intended to work upon graduation (Table 3-3).
Almost half of these students (44 percent) named
employment in the fields of engineering or
computing. In fact, 60 percent of the males in
this population named engineering as their choice
of employment. This makes sense, since students
who pursue undergraduate study in engineering
are well prepared to enter the work force without
further schooling. This is true for students with
expertise in computing as well. Thus, while
these students may not feel compelled to continue
their schooling beyond college, their interest in
SEM and SEM-related areas, such as certain
aspects of computer technology, remains evident.

In general, the career plans of the
nonparticipants mirror those of the participants,
which is not surprising in light of the other
findings. Twenty-nine percent of junior high
students (compared to 35 percent of the
participant group) and 42 percent of senior high
students (compared to 41 percent of the
participant group) plan to enter SEM careers
(Table 3-5). In this latter group, the majority of
males (73 percent) said that they intended to
pursue careers in SEM areas.

particularly for the older group of students. Of
the nonparticipants now in college, 37 percent
(compared to 21 percent of the participant group)
mentioned entering careers in health. For
females, interest in health careers is especially
strong, with 60 percent reporting that they intend
to enter health-related professions. These data
probably reflect the fact that numerous

occupations that are typically considered healthrelated,
such as nursing, laboratory technology,
and physical therapy, have traditionally been
undertaken by women. Only 24 percent of
female participants named health-related fields as
a career choice.

Table 3-5
Percentage of nonparticipants indicating their career plans, by gender
Junior high (grades 7-9) Senior high (grades 10-12)
Anticipated career Female
(N=1,674)

Male
(N=1,569)

Total
(N=3,243)

Female
(N=1,518)

Male
(N=1,366)

Total
(N=2,884)

SEM.................................................... 6 53 29 15 73 42
Non-SEM............................................. 44 20 32 15 11 13
Health.................................................. 25 13 19 60 11 37
Don't know........................................... 25 13 19 10 6 8

CHAPTER 4: CONVERSATIONS WITH PARENTS
Introduction
Conversations were conducted with 52
parents whose sons or daughters had participated
in the YSP program. Depending on availability,
these conversations took place with either parent,
although most involved the mother. In a number
of cases, there was no father living or present in
the household; in two cases, the student lived
with a grandparent or other relative.

Table 4-1 summarizes the available
information about the gender, ethnicity, and 1991
grade grouping (7-9 or 10-12) of these students.
It also shows the occupation and education of
father and mother as reported by these students
on the YSP application in 1991. 13

13 It should be pointed out that the data we have for parental
education was furnished by students at the time they applied to a
YSP project. The information reported by students about their
parents' education is often inaccurate (see Quality of the Responses
of Eighth-Grade Students in NELS:88, Technical Report, National
Center for Education Statistics, September 1991).

As discussed in the chapter on students, there
was considerable variation in the definition of
science in this group: in particular, many
students think of interest in the health fields and
health professions as interest in science, whereas
NSF (in its classification of fields of study) does
not include the health fields under the heading of
science. Similarly, many parents also felt that
interest in medicine or nursing was evidence of a
scientific orientation, although those who were
engineers or scientists usually adopted a
narrower definition. This issue needs to be kept
in mind when evaluating the parents' statements
about the program's effectiveness in stimulating
their children's interest in science and scientific
careers.

Table 4-1
Characteristics of all YSP participants in Westat study and of those whose parents were interviewed

Characteristic

All participants in
Westat study
(N=199)

Participants whose parents
were interviewed
(N=52)

Number Percent Number Percent
Grade level at application
7-9................................................................ 95 52 33 64
10-12 ............................................................ 104 48 19 36
Student's gender
Female.......................................................... 115 58 28 55
Male ............................................................. 84 42 23 45
Student's ethnicity
Asian/Pacific Islander ................................... 28 14 8 15
African American (non-
Hispanic) ....................................................

39 20 12 23

Hispanic ....................................................... 17 8 4 8
White (non-Hispanic).................................... 113 57 26 50
Native American ........................................... 2 1 2 4

Since these conversations were highly
idiosyncratic and varied widely depending on the
parent's educational and professional background
and choice of topics, we did not attempt a formal
quantitative analysis. Instead, we present a
largely qualitative and anecdotal narrative of the
information yielded by these conversations.

It should also be pointed out that the extent to
which the parents were able to furnish extensive
or correct information about their children's
reaction to the YSP or career interests varied a
great deal; a few parents indicated that they did
not know how their children had reacted to the
YSP or simply stated that since they had had no
problem getting the child to attend every day, the
program was probably interesting to the student.
In a few cases, when we checked the parents'
answers against the information that the children
themselves had supplied when they were
interviewed, it turned out that the child expressed
definite career interests or plans of which the
parent was unaware.

Topics Covered in Conversations
The conversations were conducted by Westat
staff members using a discussion guide that
covered four areas:

· · Impact of YSP. In this segment of the
conversation, the interviewer sought to
obtain the parent's evaluation of the YSP
experience at the time of the child's
participation. Additional topics dealt with
the influence of participation on the child's
subsequent activities, interest in SEM,
and on the attitudes or activities of other
family members.

· Perception of child's interest in SEM.
Here, the interviewer sought to learn about
specific SEM areas in which the child is
interested and the strength of this interest,
the time when the child first displayed this
interest, the extent to which various
individuals or experiences may have
played a part, and the parent's awareness
of the child's career interests.

· The parents' own interest and
professional involvement in SEM. This
segment of the conversation sought
information about the parents' own
interest and professional involvement in
SEM. The conversation also probed the
extent to which the parents encouraged or
supported the child's interest in SEM and
involvement in YSP.

· Suggestions for improving YSP. Finally,
the parent was asked for suggestion to
strengthen or improve the program.

Findings
Program Impact on Participating Child
The parents' comments about program
impacts were uniformly favorable; almost every
parent felt that his/her child had greatly benefited
from participating. Not surprisingly, the
comments made by parents of younger children
(those in grades 7, 8, and 9 at the time of
participation) were often different from those
offered by parents whose children were in senior
high school (all of whom were in grades 10 or
11).

Impact on Younger Children. Many
parents of younger children stressed the extent to
which their children became more motivated to
do well in school. Several parents mentioned that
their child became acquainted with other
students who were high achievers and had strong
academic motivation. Some felt that the child's
self-esteem was raised considerably, perhaps by
the mere fact of acceptance into a prestigious,
competitive program. Others spoke about
children gaining more insight into their goals and
talents, although this did not necessarily lead to
preference for SEM subjects. The following
comments were typical:

(Influenced) motivation to do well,
self-esteem, academic achievement;
learned what it means to give
your time to advance self that does
not involve getting paid... This
program really turned her life
around. Before, she had peer
pressure to do poorly in school.
This put her in touch with other
academically talented black
students (mother of 7th grade
African American female student).

She met lots of other kids and
started her looking at college
(mother of 7th grade white female
student).

Many parents also observed that the program
increased their children's interest in SEM and led
them to select more advanced or difficult courses.
In a few cases, however, the program made them
aware of difficulties or, to them, unattractive
aspects of SEM:

She sought more advanced studies
in math (mother of 8th grade white
female student).

Took all college prep courses.
Challenged herself (mother of 8th
grade Hispanic female student).

Helped develop a real love for
math and science (mother of 9th
grade African American female
student).

The science part was very
interesting and held his interest in
science. He signed up for science
and math, especially math (mother
of 8th grade white male student).

She said it was fairly challenging
and some of it was over her
head...she also said she was
overwhelmed with the math
(probability)...she had thought of a
career in zoology. She was very
young and impressionable when
she went into YSP and I think some
of the math scared her, she lost

some confidence (mother of 9th
grade white female student).

Gave her confidence in tackling
difficult things. Having
satisfactorily completed the task,
she knew she could succeed at
other things. Prior to this she
wanted to go into marine science,
but all numbers and data made her
decide not to....Now she wants to
major in history (mother of 9th
grade white female student).

Impact on Older Students. We held
conversations with 19 parents of students who
were in senior high school at the time they
participated in the YSP in 1991. All of them
were in college when their parent was interviewed
in 1994.

Perhaps because these young people had left
home and for the most part had made definite
career choices, their parents' recollection of the
YSP experience were less vivid and salient; they
provided fewer comments about the impact of the
YSP than had the parents of younger children.

Impact on Family Members
In a number of instances, younger siblings
sought admission to YSP programs, perhaps
because the participant praised the program and
had benefited or because parents became aware
of an opportunity they had not previously known
about. Our data suggest that this was especially
true of minority participants. Other parents
simply reported that the participant's program
experience led siblings to become more interested
in math and science. A few mothers saw some
impact on the parents' own interest and behavior.

Two younger children in 6th and
8th grades look forward to the time
when they can go to such a
program (mother of 8th grade
Hispanic female student).

Younger brother is currently in
KEYS program (same program as
participant attended in 1991; mother
of 7th grade Asian female student).

Her sister was enrolled in the same
program (mother of 9th grade
African American female student).

Younger sister wants to apply to
same program in the future (mother
of 10th grade Asian female student).

Influenced his brother to become
interested in the computer (mother
of 7th grade white male).

Influenced mother to begin
recycling plastic containers
through Walmart (mother of 9th
grade white male student).

Mother ended up coaching local
math teams at the high school after
son came back from YSP (mother of
9th grade Asian male student).

Father's interest in science has
heightened (mother of 7th grade
white male student).

Perception of Child's Interest in SEM
One of the most interesting findings yielded
by these conversations was the early interest in
math and/or science that the majority of these
parents had observed in their offspring; a very
high proportion reported that they saw evidence
while their children were in elementary school or
even earlier. The findings were especially
striking for the 19 high school participants who
were college students in 1994 and had chosen a
major: of the 11 students who had chosen one of
the SEM fields, 8 had displayed an early interest,
and 2 had done so in junior high school,
according to their parents. The one student who
was said to have decided late (after participating
in the YSP) is majoring in biology and plans to
go to medical school. In only two other instances
did parents indicate that their children first
became interested in SEM after they had attended
the Young Scholars Program: one of these
students is majoring in a health field, and the
other elected to major in business.

Similar findings emerged from the
conversations with the 33 parents whose children
were in junior high school when they attended the
YSP program. With one exception, these
students were either still in high school in 1994
or had just graduated and were about to enter
college in the fall. According to their parents, 7
of these students were undecided about their
choice of major, 10 had expressed a definite
choice for one of the SEM fields, and 8 had
indicated that they would select a major in a
medical field; the remaining 8 had chosen other
fields.14 Six of the 10 parents whose children are
planning to major in one of the SEM fields
reported that children had shown an early interest
in math and/or science; 3 became aware of the
interest when their children were in school; and
only 1 parent felt that the YSP had first
stimulated this interest. Conversely, 6 of the 8
parents whose children had elected to major in

one of the health fields pointed to the YSP as the
major source of the child's interest in science or
scientific research.

Parental Background and Professional
Involvement in SEM

The parents of students who were selected for
participation in YSP programs are better
educated and more often work in professional
and managerial occupations than a cross-section
of Americans in the same age groups. This
phenomenon is understandable: we know from
other studies that although students can excel
academically regardless of their family
background, those who do so come
disproportionately from families that have the
educational background and financial resources
to support and enhance their children's
educational pursuits. They also tend to live in
communities where schools offer more advanced
and challenging courses.

We examined the information on parental
background to assess the importance of this
factor on a child's career interests and
occupational choice. How much do parents
actually influence these interests and choices? In
what ways do parents encourage and support
their child's math and science education? In what
ways did they support the child's involvement in
YSP? These questions were explored in our
conversations with the participants themselves;
here we present the parents' perspectives.

As expected, in families where either parent is
a scientist or engineer, children are exposed to
talk about science or math at an early age.
However, given the very small number of cases
in this study and the very small number of
scientists and engineers in this group of 52
parents (5 of the fathers and 3 of the mothers
reported these occupations), we cannot say much
about the extent to which these role models
affected their children. But in many more
families of YSP participants, we obtained
evidence of considerable interest and involvement
in SEM. For example, one father, a lawyer, had
majored in physics. Another father who is an
actuary had obtained a master's degree in
geochemistry. Interest in math and science runs
high in these families. This is especially true
when the mother is a teacher (regardless of the

grade or subject taught) or works in the health
field, usually as a nurse. But many of the fathers
also were clearly interested in science,
engineering, and math:

Husband is an office and billing
service manager. He has
recreational interests in science
(mother of 11th grade white male
student).

Father is general building
contractor. He gets involved in
design and engineering of
buildings (mother of 10th grade
white male student).

I am a draftsman, have degree in
construction. Am very interested
in engineering: mechanical,
structural, civil (father of 8th grade
male student, ethnicity not known).

Father is a mechanic and farmer,
very interested in science and
engineering (mother of 8th grade
white female student).

Father is an air traffic controller.
He is interested in astronomy and
environmental studies (mother of
8th grade white female student).

The conversations suggest that the majority of
these parents have a very positive attitude toward
math and science. Many of them volunteered
that they liked math or science and had done well
in these subjects in school; none of them
expressed dislike or fear of these subjects.

Parental Encouragement and Support for
Child's Involvement in SEM

encouraging their children to get as much
education as they could and to take their studies
seriously, rather than encouraging them to go into
a specific field. Those who mentioned a
preference for their child's future career often
mentioned one of the health fields.

We show that we respect what she's
interested in. We don't believe in
pushing her, though. We have
always told her that whatever she
wants to do is fine (mother of 8th
grade Asian female student).

I told her that math is essential in
any field she wants to follow. Told
her how important it is to study,
study, study (mother of 11th grade
Hispanic female student).

Whatever she chooses to do, we
give constant encouragement
(mother of 11th grade African
American female student).

Those who pointed to specific things they
had done to encourage their child's interest in
SEM pointed to museum visits during the school
year and during vacations. This was by far the
most frequently mentioned activity. But there
were many others: parents sought out special
school programs, bought computers, bought
books and subscribed to magazines (for example,
Discover and National Geographic), hired
tutors, encouraged their children to become
tutors, and took their children to career fairs and
science fairs. Surprisingly, only a few mentioned
helping their children with science projects or
monitoring or helping with homework, perhaps
because many of these talented students did not
need help.

Parents' Influence or Support for YSP
Participation

The majority of these parents had actively
encouraged their child to apply to the program;
many, especially those who were teachers, were
their children's first source of information about
the program and obtained the application forms
for them (several said the forms were not always
easy to get). A few had helped their children to

complete the application or had reviewed the
essay that applicants were required to write.
Some also mentioned writing commitment letters,
which were apparently required by some
programs. But by far, the most frequent
statements dealt with transportation: parents had
driven the student, often on a daily basis, so he or
she could attend. In other cases, parents
mentioned the purchase of plane tickets and the
payment of tuition or other expenses as their way
of supporting the child's participation. Given the
earlier finding that students were overwhelmingly
enthusiastic about participation and were eager to
attend the program for as long as it was offered,
parents evidently saw no other role for
themselves except to enable their child to get to
the program site and make attendance financially
possible.

Conclusion
It would be presumptuous to evaluate the
impact of the YSP on its participants based on
the anecdotal data collected in these telephone
conversations. There are indicators that some
participants expect to follow in their parents'
professional footsteps, especially in the medical
field. With respect to SEM, our data suggest the
same pattern, perhaps less because of parents'
trying to influence their children's choices (which
most of these well-educated parents feel is
unacceptable) but because they provide a
nurturing atmosphere at home and through
recreational and educational initiatives for their
children. However, it is also clear that most of
the parents of future SEM career candidates are
not highly educated professionals, and that the
children themselves show a very early interest in
SEM. We do not know how much of this is due
to environmental and parental stimuli as opposed
to genetic predispositions, but it should be noted
that this early interest was reported by many of
the less-educated and nonprofessional parents in
our small sample.

interests of students who were predisposed
toward SEM. This is, of course, not surprising
given the strong selection emphasis on students
who were high achievers in these subjects in
junior and senior high school. For students who
were not predisposed to enter SEM fields, the
YSP experience did not create a new
commitment. But it did provide exposure, and,
especially for minority students, opportunity and

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of this study was to take a look
at the Young Scholars Program from the point of
view of its impact on participants and to examine
the extent to which the program excites them
about SEM fields and encourages them to pursue
careers in SEM areas. The results of our
conversations leave us with a mixed picture of
the program's impact.

First, from the point of view of whether or not
the Young Scholars experience is a positive one,
the answer is clearly a resounding "Yes!" Both
participants and their parents had high praise for
the program, evidenced excitement about their
experiences, and felt the learning opportunities
were extremely valuable. Parents of minority
students, and some of the minority students
themselves, made some particularly strong and
heartfelt statements about the value of the
program and its general impact on attitudes
toward learning and expectations for continued
education.

Second, from the point of view of whether or
not participants actually pursue careers in SEMrelated
fields, the findings are also positive, but
the impact of program participation on that
choice is less clear. Our data show that SEM
majors are elected by somewhat greater than 60
percent of the program participants and that a
slightly smaller number (40 percent) plan to enter
SEM-related careers. While this choice of
majors is almost three times that occurring in the
overall population, it is also clear that the
program participants are a very atypical group
and from the beginning seek out the Young
Scholars activities because of their interest in the
SEM fields. Thus, while we can conclude that
participation in a Young Scholars Program
probably reinforces the interest that many
talented young people have in pursuing an SEMrelated
career, stronger impact statements are not
warranted.

Examination of data on selection of majors
and career choice from students who applied to,
but did not attend, the Young Scholars Program
provides additional information to support this
conclusion. These students report patterns of

major choice and career selection that are almost
identical to that of the program participants. In
fact, in some cases, the continued interest of the
nonparticipants in SEM-related activities appears
to be somewhat higher than that of participants.
Again, however, it must be acknowledged that
these nonparticipants are also a special group.
Like the participants, they have an active interest
in science, engineering, mathematics, and
technology and are strong students. Further,
around a third of them have participated in
special programs that share many of the features
of the Young Scholars Program, without carrying
that label.

The findings regarding African Americans
and females are cause both for optimism and
concern. The program clearly seems to have an
especially reinforcing impact on African
Americans. In contrast, while women are equally
positive about the program and derive important
networking opportunities from participation, they
differ substantially in the ultimate selection of
majors and careers in SEM-related areas. The
limitations of our sample and the design of our
protocols does not allow us to do more than
touch the surface of both of these important
findings. These are, however, areas that NSF
might wish to look at more closely.

excitement as learners is an end of considerable
merit.

In reviewing these results and attempting to
understand their meaning, it is important to
repeat some cautions mentioned in the sampling
discussion provided at the beginning of this
report. First, our examination of program impact
looked across the program generally, sampling
students from a wide diversity of programs, some
which may well be stronger than others. Before
drawing conclusions regarding the impact of any
program on the SEM pipeline, it would be

TECHNICAL APPENDIX
SAMPLING AND DATA COLLECTION DESIGN, PROCEDURE, AND OUTCOMES

Sample Design
The sample design was structured to obtain interviews with approximately 160 participants in the 1991
YSP program and with approximately half as many comparison students who applied to but did not
participate in the program. The participant group included systematic representation both of participants
who had responded to the second (1993) COSMOS followup (for whom both initial and current interest in
science careers were known) and of those who had not responded (whose omission from the study could
easily skew the findings and lead to mistaken conclusions about the post-program experiences of YSP
participants).

The focal issue to be examined in this study is the impact of the YSP program on the science,
engineering, and mathematics (SEM) career pipeline. Among participants for whom career interest in
science and mathematics had been ascertained both at the time of their application to YSP and at the time
of the second COSMOS followup, we wanted to ensure adequate representation in the data base of four
analytically interesting groups, which potentially indicate/reflect different pipeline-related impacts: *

1. Stayers. Students who expressed a strong interest in science careers before YSP and who continued
to express such an interest in the latest COSMOS followup.

2. Leavers. Students who expressed a strong interest in science careers before YSP but whose interest
appeared to have waned by the time of the latest COSMOS followup.

3. Converts. Students who did not express a strong interest in science careers before YSP but who
subsequently indicated such an interest in the latest COSMOS followup.

4. Nonconverts. Students who did not express a strong interest in science careers before YSP and who
still did not indicate such an interest in the latest COSMOS followup.

To obtain modest representation in all four of these categories, it was decided to allocate two-thirds of
the total target participant sample (i.e., about 100 "slots") to participants with followup data, who could be
sorted into these groups. Each of the four pipeline-related subgroups was represented equally in the target
sample. The remaining participant slots (about 50 in number) were allocated to the larger group of
participants for whom followup data were not available.

The target sample was further subdivided by student age/grade, with junior high students (grades 7-9)
and senior high students (grades 10-12) being equally represented in each sampling category. The resulting
targets are shown in Table 1.

*
The classification is based on answers to the following question, which was asked both in the applicant questionnaire and in the latest followup:

Table 1. Target number of YSP impact study interviews, by YSP student group and grade in school
Student grade
Group
Total 7-9 10-12

Total ............................................. 236 118 118
Participants with followup data, by
high school and followup likelihood of
entering science careers (good versus
other):*

Total ........................................ 104 52 52
Good (HS) - Good (FU) ................ 26 13 13
Good (HS) - Other (FU) ................ 26 13 13
Other (HS) - Good (FU) ................ 26 13 13
Other (HS) - Other (FU) ................ 26 13 13

Participants without followup data ..... 52 26 26
All other applicants** ........................ 80 40 40
*The classification is based on answers to the following question, which was asked both in the applicant questionnaire and in the latest followup:
"How likely is it that you will become a scientist, engineer or mathematician in the future?" The response choices were: "a very good chance (better
than 50 percent)," "even chance (50 percent)," and "not a very good chance (less than 50 percent)." Students who gave the first answer (a very good
chance) were classified as having a strong interest in science careers. Those who gave one of the other answers or who failed to answer the question
were classified as "other."

**Applicants for whom there is no further information in COSMOS files beyond application. This group includes applicants who were not accepted,
applicants who were accepted but did not participate, and participants for whom only application data are available.

It was decided to oversample initially to ensure that these rather small targets would actually be
attained. We used an assumption that the final response rate might be as low as 50 percent. This is an
unusually pessimistic assumption, which we made in this case for several reasons:

n Previous followup efforts with YSP participants have had response rates below this level;

n The locating information that was available for many of the sampled students would be several
years out of date, especially for the unsuccessful applicants and the participants who had not
responded to earlier followups;

n The time and resources available for tracking and interviewing students were restricted; and

Sampling
Using 1991 YSP datafiles supplied by COSMOS, three sampling files were created:

1. Participants who responded to the second COSMOS followup study, subdivided by grade (junior
high or senior high) and by pipeline category (the four career interest groups described above). The
eight resulting groupings were sorted and listed by gender within ethnic group.

2. Participants who did not respond to the second COSMOS followup study, subdivided by grade and
then sorted/listed by gender within ethnic group.

3. All other applicants (i.e., students in the applicant data base but not in either of the above groups),
subdivided by grade and then sorted/listed by gender within ethnic group.

For each of the 12 resulting groups, a systematic random sample of the desired size was selected. Table
2 (junior high) and Table 3 (senior high) show the total number of students in the 1991 YSP program in
each of these groups and the number sampled from each group. Table 4 provides totals that combine the
junior high and senior high components.

The procedure for systematic random sampling within a given group was first to calculate a sampling
interval (i), defined as the ratio of the number of students in the program to the number to be sampled, and
then to select a random start number (s) between 1 and i. Beginning at the top of the listing for the group in
question, the person in the sth position was selected, and every ith person thereafter was also selected.
Since the listings had been ordered by gender within ethnic group, this procedure ensures a good
representation of the ethnic diversity that actually exists in each group and, to a less precise extent,
proportionate representation by gender, as well.

Table 2. Sample design and response rate for YSP impact study, students in grades 7-9
Student group

Number in
YSP
program

Number in
sample

Number of
respondents

Response
rate 1

Estimation
weight 2

Total ............................................... 6,014 236 137 58% Participants
with followup data, by
high school and followup likelihood of
entering science careers (good versus
other):3

Total .......................................... 754 104 66 63 Good
(HS) - Good (FU) .................. 307 26 14 54 21.9
Good (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 130 26 16 62 8.1
Other (HS) - Good (FU) .................. 111 26 19 73 5.9
Other (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 206 26 17 65 12.1

Participants without followup data ....... 973 52 30 58 32.4
All other applicants 4 ............................. 4,287 80 41 51 104.6
1
Response rate = Number of respondents ˜ Number in sample.

2
Estimation weight = Number in program ˜ Number of respondents.

3
The classification is based on answers to the following question, which was asked both in the applicant questionnaire and in the latest followup:

"How likely is it that you will become a scientist, engineer or mathematician in the future?" The response choices were: "a very good chance (better
than 50 percent)," "even chance (50 percent)," and "not a very good chance (less than 50 percent)." Students who gave the first answer (a very good
chance) were classified as having a strong interest in science careers. Those who gave one of the other answers or who failed to answer the question
were classified as "other."

4
Applicants for whom there is no further information in COSMOS files beyond application. This group includes applicants who were not accepted,

Table 3. Sample design and response rate for YSP impact study, students in grades 10-12
Student group

Number in
YSP
program

Number in
sample

Number of
respondents

Response
rate 1

Estimation
weight 2

Total ............................................... 5,034 236 148 63% Participants
with followup data, by
high school and followup likelihood of
entering science careers (good versus
other):3

Total .......................................... 828 104 68 65 Good
(HS) - Good (FU) .................. 523 26 19 73 27.5
Good (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 128 26 14 54 9.1
Other (HS) - Good (FU) .................. 53 26 17 65 3.1
Other (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 124 26 18 69 6.9

Participants without followup data ....... 866 52 36 69 24.1
All other applicants 4 ............................. 3,340 80 44 55 75.9
1
Response rate = Number of respondents ˜ Number in sample.

2
Estimation weight = Number in program ˜ Number of respondents.

3
The classification is based on answers to the following question, which was asked both in the applicant questionnaire and in the latest followup:

"How likely is it that you will become a scientist, engineer or mathematician in the future?" The response choices were: "a very good chance (better
than 50 percent)," "even chance (50 percent)," and "not a very good chance (less than 50 percent)." Students who gave the first answer (a very good
chance) were classified as having a strong interest in science careers. Those who gave one of the other answers or who failed to answer the question
were classified as "other."

4
Applicants for whom there is no further information in COSMOS files beyond application. This group includes applicants who were not accepted,

applicants who were accepted but did not participate, and participants for whom only application data are available.

Throughout most of the data collection period, two groups of telephoners were involved. The first
group concentrated on locating the sampled students, contacting them, and scheduling an appointment for
an interview. The second group of more highly trained interviewers, who had received a detailed briefing
on the purposes and intended content of the interview discussions, followed up on these initial contacts by
calling respondents at the agreed-upon day and time to conduct the interview.

to compensate for any problems that were encountered by the interviewers who followed up on the
appointments. Toward the end of the data collection period, we faced a number of situations where
interviews had been completed with nearly 50 percent (or more) of the sampled students in a particular
group without exhausting the appointments that had already been made. At that point, we stopped
attempting to contact any additional students in the group, and we did not reschedule any interviews that
students could not keep at the appointed time. However, wherever outstanding appointments remained, we
did call to keep the appointment and conduct the interview, even if we had already reached or exceeded the
initial target for the sampling group.

The data collection operation was more successful than we had anticipated. We exceeded the initial 50
percent response targets in all 12 sampling groups. Final response rates within sampling groups ranged
from 51 percent to 73 percent (Tables 2 and 3), with an overall response rate of 60 percent (Table 4).
With additional time or resources, a much higher response rate could have been achieved. Of the 472
initially sampled students, problems were encountered with only 59 students: 47 (10 percent) could not
immediately be located; 9 others (2 percent) were located but were found to be out of the country or
otherwise inaccessible during the interviewing period; and 3 (under 1 percent) were classified as initial
refusals. No serious efforts were made to trace the initially unlocated students or to "convert" the initial
refusals. The largest group of nonrespondents consisted of 123 students whom we did not interview,
simply because data collection activities were closed out before we got to them.

Table 4. Sample design and response rate for YSP impact study, total students in grades 7-12
Student group Number in
YSP program

Number in
sample

Number of
respondents Response rate

1

Total ............................................... 11,048 472 285 60%
Participants with followup data, by
high school and followup likelihood of
entering science careers (good versus
other):2

Total .......................................... 1,582 208 134 64
Good (HS) - Good (FU) .................. 830 52 33 63
Good (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 258 52 30 58
Other (HS) - Good (FU) .................. 164 52 36 69
Other (HS) - Other (FU) .................. 330 52 35 67

Participants without follouwp data ....... 1,839 104 66 63
All other applicants 3 ............................. 7,627 160 85 53
1
Response rate = Number of respondents ˜ Number in sample.

2
The classification is based on answers to the following question, which was asked both in the applicant questionnaire and in the latest followup:

"How likely is it that you will become a scientist, engineer or mathematician in the future?" The response choices were: "a very good chance (better
than 50 percent)," "even chance (50 percent)," and "not a very good chance (less than 50 percent)." Students who gave the first answer (a very good
chance) were classified as having a strong interest in science careers. Those who gave one of the other answers or who failed to answer the question
were classified as "other."

3
Applicants for whom there is no further information in COSMOS files beyond application. This group includes applicants who were not accepted,

In retrospect, if the study had been more oriented to production of statistically precise quantitative
estimates based on standardized questionnaire findings (rather than upon unstructured conversations
dealing with broadly defined topic areas), it would have been preferable to have selected a smaller initial
sample and to have pressed for a higher response rate. Even though we attempted to (and did) achieve a
demographically well-balanced subgroup of respondents within each of the 12 sampling groups, we cannot
be as confident about the accuracy and representativeness of findings based on a 60 percent response as we
would with a response rate of 85-90 percent, which we now believe would have been feasible with this
population.

Table 5 shows the race/ethnicity and gender distributions of the study respondents, by YSP participant
status and grade level. These distributions are generally similar to the race/ethnicity and gender
distributions for the total YSP program and for the selected samples of participants and nonparticipants.
However, the numbers of respondents in several race/ethnicity categories are not large enough to justify
separate analysis. Using 10 respondents as a minimum cutoff point, black (non-Hispanic), and white (nonHispanic)
are the only participant groups that are large enough for separate analysis at both grade levels;
among nonparticipants, none of the race/ethnicity groups except white (non-Hispanic) have sufficient
numbers of respondents for separate analysis at either grade level.

Table 5. Ethnicity and gender of YSP impact study respondents, by participant status and grade level
Participants, by grade level Nonparticipants,* by grade level
Ethnicity and gender
7-9 10-12 Total 7-9 10-12 Total

Total ........................... 95 104 199 32 38 70
Race/ethnicity
American Indian .......... 2 0 2 1 1 2
Asian/Pacific Islander . 8 20 28 2 8 10
Black (non-Hispanic) .. 29 10 39 6 5 11
Hispanic ..................... 8 9 17 2 3 5
White (non-Hispanic) .. 48 65 113 21 21 42

Gender
Male ........................... 36 48 84 15 18 33
Female ........................ 59 56 115 17 20 37

Estimation Procedure
Even though the YSP impact interviews were unstructured, it is necessary to "force" the findings into
quantitative categories whenever there is a need to aggregate or summarize results across the boundaries of
the 12 sampling groups. The reason is that some YSP subgroups are represented in the data much more
heavily than others. At the high school level, for example, "converts" (students who were not strongly
interested in science careers prior to YSP but who subsequently did report such an interest in the latest
COSMOS followup) are heavily represented in the data base: we completed interviews with one-third of all
students in this group. "Stayers" (students who were strongly interested in science careers before YSP and
who continued to report this interest on the latest COSMOS followup) are more common in the program,
but are represented much more thinly in our data base: we interviewed only 1 out of every 28 such
participants.

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