About one in three of the nation's 1997–2000 recipients of S&E bachelor's degrees changed states at each transition point from birth to postgraduate employment (table 1). Mobility rates among bachelor's degree recipients were slightly higher in the transition to postgraduate employment than they were between high school graduation and degree receipt. Of the 1.2 million employed in a state other than the one in which they earned their degree, 32 percent earned their bachelor's degree in a state other than the one in which they graduated from high school, and 33 percent completed high school in a state other than the one in which they were born.[7]
S&E master's degree recipients exhibited migration rates comparable to their baccalaureate counterparts for most of the transitions from birth to postgraduate employment (table 1). Slightly over one-third (36 percent) of the nation's S&E master's degree recipients were employed in a state other than the one in which they earned their degree, 36 percent changed states between birth and high school graduation, and 34 percent migrated between high school graduation and receipt of their bachelor's degree. However, S&E master's degree recipients were most mobile between the receipt of their bachelor's and master's degrees: 47 percent of the graduates changed states during this transition period.
Although substantial, the interstate mobility rates for S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients were considerably lower than the migration rates of S&E doctorate recipients. A recent report (Sanderson and Dugoni 2002) indicates that 59 percent of U.S.-born recipients of S&E doctorate degrees in 1999 changed states between completion of their doctorate and their first postdoctoral employment.[8]
This section reports differences in interstate migration of S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients by selected demographic characteristics—sex, race/ethnicity, and marital status. Findings in the remainder of this report focus primarily on the extent to which S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients changed states between the receipt of the eligible degree and employment during the survey reference week (i.e., during the transition to postgraduate employment).
Male and female S&E graduates exhibited similar mobility rates throughout their educational careers, with one exception—a higher proportion of men than women changed states during the transition from degree receipt to postgraduate employment (table 1). These differences by sex were observed for both S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients. Among S&E bachelor's recipients, 37 percent of men versus 32 percent of women were employed in a state other than the one in which they earned their degree. Among S&E master's recipients, 39 percent of men and 31 percent of women were employed in a state other than that in which they received their degree.
Mobility patterns for S&E bachelor's recipients differed by race/ethnicity (table 1). During their transition to postgraduate employment, white graduates were more mobile than Asian or Hispanic graduates, and Asian and black graduates were more mobile than Hispanics. For example, 36 percent of white S&E bachelor's degree recipients changed states between receipt of their degree and postgraduate employment, compared with 30 percent of Asians and 23 percent of Hispanics. Racial/ethnic groups exhibit different mobility patterns during earlier years. For example, during the transition from birth to high school graduation, Asian students were more mobile than all other racial/ethnic groups (73 percent versus 23 to 37 percent),[9] and Hispanic students were more mobile than American Indians, whites, and blacks (37 percent versus 23 to 31 percent).
Among S&E master's degree recipients, however, no significant racial/ethnic differences in mobility rates were observed for the transition to postgraduate employment, although there were some mixed findings for earlier transitions (table 1). Between the receipt of a bachelor's and a master's degree, for example, white and black graduates were more mobile than Hispanic and Asian graduates; almost half of white and black students (49 and 48 percent, respectively), compared with 39 percent of Hispanic students and 36 percent of Asian students, changed states during this transition period.
Mobility patterns for S&E bachelor's recipients differed by marital status, with the highest mobility rates in the transition to postgraduate employment occurring among graduates who, at the time of the survey reference week, had never married (table 1). During this transition period, S&E bachelor's degree recipients who had never married were more mobile than married graduates (37 versus 29 percent); graduates who were widowed, divorced, or separated had the lowest mobility rate (17 percent).
Differences in mobility rates by marital status for S&E master's degree recipients partly resembled the patterns for their baccalaureate counterparts (table 1). At the time of the survey reference week, S&E master's recipients who had never married had higher mobility rates than did married graduates; 39 percent of graduates who had never married and 33 percent of married graduates were employed in a state other than the one in which they had received their master's degree.[10]
This section reports differences in interstate migration of S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients by selected educational and employment characteristics—student enrollment status, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), parents' education, academic field of degree, occupational category, employment status, and employment sector.
Mobility rates during the transition to postgraduate employment varied depending on whether S&E bachelor's recipients were full- or part-time students, or not students at all, at the time of the survey reference week (table 2). Among these graduates, full-time students were more mobile than those who were not students (39 versus 35 percent), while part-time students (25 percent) were the least mobile group during the transition to postgraduate employment.
Differences in mobility rates by student enrollment status for S&E master's degree recipients deviated from the patterns for their bachelor's degree counterparts (table 2). Among S&E master's recipients, interstate migration during the transition to postgraduate employment was more pronounced among graduates who were not students (37 percent) than it was for graduates who were full- or part-time students (28 and 27 percent, respectively) at the time of the survey reference week.
Science and engineering bachelor's degree recipients with high undergraduate GPAs were more mobile than graduates with lower GPAs (table 2). This difference was observed during the transition to postgraduate employment and in the transition from high school to college graduation. For example, S&E bachelor's recipients with high GPAs (i.e., 3.25 or higher) were more likely than those with moderate or low GPAs to be employed in a state other than the one in which they earned their degree (37 percent versus 33 and 32 percent, respectively).
Among S&E master's degree recipients, there were no significant differences in mobility rates by undergraduate GPA during the transition to postgraduate employment or between the receipt of their bachelor's and master's degrees (table 2).
Interstate migration rates for S&E bachelor's degree recipients varied according to their parents' educational background, with graduates from more highly educated family backgrounds being more mobile than those from less educated backgrounds (table 2). These differences were observed at every transition period from birth to postgraduate employment. For example, between degree receipt and postgraduate employment, interstate migration was more pronounced for bachelor's degree recipients whose parents had a bachelor's or higher degree than it was for graduates whose parents had some college or less education (40 percent versus 26 percent).
The association between migration rates and the parental education of S&E master's degree recipients mirrored the patterns of bachelor's graduates, with one exception (table 2). During the transition to postgraduate employment, interstate migration for S&E master's recipients did not vary significantly according to their parents' educational background.
Engineering graduates were generally more mobile than science graduates after receiving their degree (table 2). Among S&E bachelor's degree recipients, a little less than half (45 percent) of the engineering graduates and a third of the science graduates changed states during the transition to postgraduate employment. A similar difference was observed for S&E master's degree recipients: 42 percent of engineering graduates and 33 percent of science graduates migrated during the transition to postgraduate employment.
Interstate migration rates also varied according to the various subfields in science (table 2). During the transition to postgraduate employment, S&E bachelor's recipients who earned degrees in physical and related sciences (41 percent) were more mobile than those who earned their bachelor's degrees in the other science fields (26 to 35 percent). During this transition period, students who received bachelor's degrees in the field of psychology were least likely to change states (26 percent).
During the transition to postgraduate employment, S&E master's recipients who earned degrees in the physical and life sciences (46 and 43 percent, respectively) were more mobile than those who received their master's degrees in the fields of psychology, computer and information sciences, and mathematics (22 to 33 percent; table 2).
Mobility patterns for graduates in the different occupations deviated somewhat from the differences by field of study (table 3). This finding may be related to the fact that a large proportion of graduates (68 percent of bachelor's and 41 percent of master's recipients) were working in jobs outside of science and engineering. Overall, bachelor's degree recipients who were employed in science or engineering occupations were more likely than those employed in non-S&E occupations to change states during the transition to postgraduate employment (40 and 42 percent, respectively versus 32 percent). Among S&E master's degree recipients, those employed as engineers were more mobile than those working in non-S&E occupations during this transition period (39 versus 34 percent).
Within the various broad science fields, S&E bachelor's recipients who were employed as physical scientists were more likely than computer scientists to change states during the transition to postgraduate employment (46 versus 39 percent; table 3). Among master's recipients, interstate mobility was also higher for physical scientists (51 percent) than for those graduates employed as psychologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, or life scientists (21 to 39 percent).
S&E masters' recipients who were employed full time were more mobile than those employed part time during the transition to postgraduate employment (37 versus 26 percent). Among S&E bachelors' recipients, differences in migration rates by employment status were not significant during this transition period.
S&E bachelor's degree recipients who were employed in the government sector or private industry and business sector were more mobile than those employed in the education sector (table 3). During the transition to postgraduate employment, 37 percent of government employees, 36 percent of employees in private industry and business, and 30 percent of employees in the education sector changed states.
Among S&E master's degree recipients, interstate mobility during the transition to postgraduate employment was most pronounced for employees in the government sector (42 percent); it was least common among employees in the education sector (28 percent; table 3).
The extent to which S&E graduates remain in the same state (or return to the state) for postgraduate employment reflects the retention of highly skilled employees, in contrast to brain drain or the loss of those skills for that state.
Patterns of residential stability indicate relatively high levels of retention of S&E bachelor's degree recipients for postgraduate employment (tables 4 through 6). About two-thirds (65 percent) of these graduates were employed in the same state in which they earned their bachelor's degree. In addition, 61 percent of the graduates remained in (or returned to) the state of their high school graduation for postgraduate employment, and 46 percent were employed in the state of their birth. Overall, a substantial proportion of S&E bachelor's recipients (38 percent) remained in the same state for all four of the life events from birth to postgraduate employment.
S&E master's degree recipients generally exhibited lower rates of residential stability than their baccalaureate counterparts, with one exception—a similar proportion (65 percent) of these graduates were employed in the same state as the one in which they had earned their eligible degree (tables 4–6). However, S&E master's recipients exhibited lower stability rates than their bachelor's degree counterparts relative to earlier life events; the former were less likely to be employed in the state in which they were born (34 versus 46 percent) or graduated from high school (45 versus 61 percent). In addition, S&E master's recipients, with one more transition than S&E bachelor's graduates were less likely to remain in the same state for all transitions from birth to postgraduate employment (24 versus 38 percent).
Past research indicates a lower level of residential stability for S&E doctorate recipients; 41 percent of these graduates were employed in the same state as that in which they had received their doctorate (Sanderson and Dugoni 2002).[11]
Residential stability rates differed by respondent characteristics (tables 4–6), and are consistent with the mobility patterns discussed earlier. For example, among S&E bachelor's degree recipients, the residential stability rate was lower for men than women, lower for white graduates than for members of other racial/ethnic groups, and lower for graduates who had never married than for other graduates (table 4). Among bachelor's degree recipients, residential stability rates were highest for graduates with psychology degrees. Among bachelor's degree recipients residential stability rates were higher for graduates whose parents had less than a bachelor's degree (table 5).
S&E bachelor's degree recipients working in the Northeast were less likely than those in the Midwest and West to be employed in the same state where they had received their degree (63 percent versus 67 and 68 percent, respectively; table 6).[12] In addition, S&E bachelor's recipients working in the South were less likely than those in the West to be employed in the state where they had received their degree (64 versus 68 percent). About 95 percent of those who were employed in Puerto Rico had received their bachelor's degree in Puerto Rico.
Master's recipients who were employed in the South (60 percent) were least likely to remain in the same state for postgraduate employment as compared with those who were employed in other regions (65 to 69 percent; table 6). Most of the master's recipients who were employed in Puerto Rico had also earned their master's degree in Puerto Rico (81 percent).
In the preceding sections, several variables were associated with the mobility rates of S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients, and some of these variables may be interrelated. For example, students from highly educated families may earn higher GPAs than students who come from families with less education. To control for the interrelationships among variables, logistic regression techniques were used to analyze the unique relationship of each variable to interstate mobility. Two analyses were conducted for the proportion of S&E graduates who changed states between the receipt of the eligible degrees and employment during the survey reference week (i.e., during the transition to postgraduate employment), one for bachelor's recipients and the other for master's recipients.[13]
The results show that most of the associations between interstate mobility rates of S&E bachelor's degree recipients and the characteristics of those graduates (observed in the preceding sections) remained significant after controlling for the effects of all characteristics (table 7). For example, the odds ratio for engineering versus science graduates indicates that engineering graduates were 1.61 times more likely than science graduates to have moved across states during the transition to postgraduate employment. Overall, the findings suggest that the propensity for S&E bachelor's degree recipients to change states during the transition to postgraduate employment varied by race/ethnicity, marital status, employment and student status, undergraduate GPA, parents' education, broad field of degree, and employment sector. Thus, during the transition to postgraduate employment, interstate migration was more pronounced among S&E bachelor's recipients who were white, were not married, were part-time employed and full-time students, had high undergraduate GPAs, came from highly educated families, received engineering degrees, and/or were employed in the government sector.
Among S&E master's degree recipients, interstate mobility during the transition to postgraduate employment varied by sex, marital status, employment and student status, and employment sector (table 7). After controlling for other characteristics, interstate mobility rates of S&E master's recipients no longer differed significantly by broad degree field. Thus, during the transition to postgraduate employment, S&E master's recipients who were male, were not married, were full-time employed and not students, and/or were employed in the government sector generally had higher propensities to migrate than did other graduates.
[7] Because 9 percent of the population in this analysis was born outside the United States but graduated from high school in the United States, this mobility rate includes some migration from foreign countries. Among U.S.-born graduates, 27 percent of the bachelor's degree recipients and 29 percent of the master's recipients migrated between birth and high school graduation.
[8] Sanderson and Dugoni's study population consisted of individuals who were born, completed high school, enrolled in college, and received an S&E doctorate degree in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
[9] This disparity is partly due to the relatively high proportion of Asians who moved to the United States prior to high school graduation. Among U.S.-born Asian bachelor's degree recipients, 36 percent migrated between birth and high school graduation.
[10] Differences for graduates who were widowed, divorced, or separated were not statistically significant because of large standard errors surrounding the estimates.
[11] Again, these data refer to individuals who were born, completed high school, enrolled in college, and received an S&E doctorate degree in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
[12] Differences for graduates in the South were not significant due to large standard errors surrounding the estimates.
[13] These analyses included all the characteristics discussed in the earlier sections except the occupational category, which was expected to be closely associated with the graduate's field of degree. In addition, for the regression analysis, a single 6-category variable "employment and student status" replaced the separate student status and employment variables examined in the bivariate analyses. For each variable (row) in table 7, the category in italics is the reference category for comparisons and tests of statistical significance; the asterisks indicate that the percentage of S&E graduates in that category is significantly different from the percentage for the reference category. The odds ratio indicates the propensity of a group to migrate relative to the propensity of the reference group.
|
|
|
|
|
|
