Chapter 3:
The Undergraduate Experience in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering
Four-Year Institutions
Although full-time enrollment at all undergraduate institutions has risen over the past 20 years (see appendix table 3-17), the enrollment of white men enrolled full time in 4-year institutions has declined by 10 percent from 1976 to 1994. At the same time, the enrollment of white women has remained almost constant (38 percent of total full-time enrollment at 4-year institutions). During the same period, the enrollment of all racial/ethnic minority groups has risen. The most notable increases in total full-time enrollment at all institutions during that period were for women, who increased from 46 percent to 54 percent; Hispanic students, who grew from 4 percent to 8 percent of the total full-time fall enrollment; and Asian students, who constituted 2 percent of the total full-time enrollment in fall 1976 and 6 percent in fall 1994. Racial/ethnic and gender patterns among total enrollment at 4-year institutions are similar to those for full-time enrollment at these institutions (see appendix tables 3-18 and 3-19).
The representation of the racial/ethnic and gender groups in 4-year institutions is similar to that in 2-year institutions in that there are more Asian males and females in both types of institutions than would be expected from their proportion in the population (see figure 3-3, text table 3-3, and appendix tables 3-20 and 3-21). This unexpected level was also found among American Indian females enrolled in 2-year institutions from 1980 through 1994. Although this group of American Indian females was underrepresented in 4-year institutions in 1980, since then it has increased its representation in these institutions and has achieved parity since 1992.
Additional findings from the IR analysis of particular interest are
- The representation of white males in both types of institutions has decreased since 1980, yet in 1994, white males were at parity in 4-year institutions.
- Hispanic males and females have increased their representation in 4-year institutions, although not to the same extent as they have done in 2-year institutions.
- Hispanic females achieved parity at 2-year institutions in 1993 and 1994; their IR score for enrollment in 4-year institutions was slightly less than 73 in 1994.
- The proportional representation of black males in 4-year institutions is about the same as it is in 2-year institutions, ranging from an IR score of slightly less than 56 to 60 during the 1990s. Black males have made very little progress in their enrollment patterns at both types of institutions.
- Although black females achieved parity at 2-year institutions in 1994, their IR score for 4-year institutions, though increasing, achieved only 90 in 1994.
The percentage of women of all racial/ethnic groups who have been awarded bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering has risen dramatically over the past 30 years. (See appendix table 3-2.)[3] In 1966, women received 25 percent of all science and engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded and 52 percent of degrees in non–science-and-engineering fields. By 1995, women received almost half (47 percent) of all science and engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded and 58.7 percent of all non–science-and-engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded. During the decade of the 1980s, the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to all groups, especially women, increased. In the 10-year period between 1984 and 1994, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to men increased by 10 percent, whereas those awarded to women rose by 29 percent. (See appendix tables 3-2 and 3-3.)
For both 1994 and 1995, approximately 40 percent of the bachelor’s degrees earned by white males, American Indian males, and Hispanic males were in science and engineering. Fifty-seven percent of the bachelor’s degrees earned by Asian males and 36 percent of the degrees earned by black males were in science and engineering. (See text tables 3-4 and 3-5 and appendix table 3-4.)
In 1994 and 1995, 40 percent of the bachelor’s degrees earned by Asian females were in science and engineering. The percentage of degrees in science and engineering among the other female categories range from 27 to 30 percent for both years; black females had a higher percentage than the other female racial/ethnic categories. (See appendix table 3-5.)
White males continue to earn more than 60 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering. White women had the next highest percentage–12 percent–of the engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded in 1994 and 1995. Nine percent of these degrees were earned by Asian males. For both years, the percentage of the engineering degrees earned by Hispanic males was slightly higher than the percentage of these degrees earned by black males. Less than 1 percent of these degrees were earned by American Indians.
Differences among racial/ethnic and gender categories by field are considerable.
- Fifty-four to 58 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in these fields were earned by white males.
- White females earned 35 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in agricultural science. They earned 27 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and 17 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science.
- Asian males earned 4 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and 7 percent of the degrees in computer science.
- Black males, Asian females, and black females each earned 3 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and 4 to 6 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science. Less than 1 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in these areas were earned by American Indians.
There is a small difference between white males and females in their percentage of the total number of bachelor’s degrees earned in mathematics.
- White males earned 44 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in mathematics in 1994 and 42 percent in 1995.
- White females earned 38 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in mathematics in both years.
- Asians and blacks, both males and females, earned essentially the same percentage of the degrees in mathematics (4 percent) in 1995. In 1994, Asian females and black males earned 3 percent.
- Two percent of the bachelor’s degrees in mathematics were earned by Hispanics.
- Less than 1 percent were earned by American Indians.
Differences between white males and females in social sciences are similar to those found in mathematics.
- White males earned 44 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in social sciences earned in 1994 and 43 percent in 1995.
- Five percent of the bachelor’s degrees in social sciences went to black females.
- Asian males and females and black males each earned around 2 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in social sciences during these 2 years.
- Three percent of the bachelor’s degrees in social sciences were earned by Hispanics.
- Less than 1 percent of degrees in social sciences were earned by American Indians.
- For both 1994 and 1995, almost 60 percent of the bachelor’s degrees earned in psychology were earned by white females.
- White males earned 22 percent of these degrees.
- Six percent of the degrees were earned by black females, and 3 percent were earned by Asian females. Females in Hispanic and American Indian categories earned less than 2 percent of the degrees in psychology in 1994 and 1995.
Indices of Representation were computed to assess the relative representation of racial/ethnic and gender groups in the awarding of bachelor’s degrees. (See text tables 3-6 and 3-7 and appendix tables 3-22, 3-23, and 3-24.) In 1994, considering all fields, three of the ten racial/ethnic and gender categories had an IR score of 100 or greater: white males and females and Asian females. (See text tables 3-6 and 3-7 and appendix table 3-22.) Asian males had an IR score slightly less than 100, and American Indian females had an IR score of slightly more than 90. The scores for 1995 are not substantially different from the scores for 1994. Black males had the lowest IR scores for both 1994 and 1995.
The racial/ethnic and gender groups differ a great deal when their IR scores within fields of study are compared.
- Asian males are highly overrepresented in engineering, indicating that for 1994 and 1995 their proportion among persons earning bachelor’s degrees in engineering was well over three times their proportion among full-time, first-time, first-year college students.
- All of the male racial/ethnic categories, except black males, have IR scores in engineering higher than 100 for these 2 years. Asian females have IR scores just below 100 for the 2 years.
- In 1994 and 1995, except for Asian females, females in each racial/ethnic category had IR scores for bachelor’s degrees in engineering of less than 32.
- For both 1994 and 1995, the IR scores of Asians (both males and females), American Indian males, and white males are higher than 100 for bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and mathematical sciences.
- White females are not far away from parity in earning bachelor’s degrees in mathematical sciences.
- In 1994 and 1995, Asian males had the highest IR score for bachelor’s degrees in the computer sciences. They are followed by Asian females and white males.
- The proportion of degrees in computer sciences earned by black males and Hispanic males in 1994 and 1995 was higher than their proportion among full-time, first-time, first-year students in 1990.
- In 1995, all the male racial/ethnic categories had an IR over 100 for degrees in the computer sciences.
- Black females had an IR score below parity for both years, but those scores were much higher than those of Hispanic females, white females, and American Indian females.
- Asian males and females earned bachelor’s degrees in 1994 and 1995 in the biological sciences at a rate that was over two times their proportion among full-time, first-time, first-year students in 1990 and 1991.
- The proportion of white males among those earning bachelor’s degrees in 1994 and 1995 in the biological sciences was slightly higher than their proportion among full-time, first-time, first-year students in 1990 and 1991, respectively.
- The IR score of white females for 1994 and 1995 indicated that they were just below parity in degrees earned in the biological sciences.
- American Indian males have the highest IR score among the racial/ethnic and gender groups for earning bachelor’s degrees in agricultural sciences in 1994 and 1995.
- White males had an IR score well above parity for these 2 years.
- With the exception of white females and American Indian females, the IR scores of the other racial/ethnic and gender groups were low for both 1994 and 1995.
- White males, Asian males and females, and American Indian males had IR scores above 100 for degrees in social sciences in 1994 and 1995.
- The IR scores for the other racial/ethnic and gender categories for degrees in social sciences ranged between 72 and 95 for these 2 years.
- Not one racial/ethnic and gender category has an extremely low IR score for degrees in social sciences.
- For 1994 and 1995, not one male racial/ethnic category has an IR score higher than 61.
- Except for black females, every female category has an IR score for psychology that is higher than 100 for both 1994 and 1995.
- Black females had an IR score in the 90s for these 2 years.
- White females had an IR score around 122 for degrees in non–science-and-engineering fields in both 1994 and 1995.
- American Indian females had a score essentially at parity in 1994 and slightly more than parity in 1995 for degrees in non–science-and-engineering areas.
- White males and Asian females had an IR score in the lower 90s in both 1994 and 1995 for degrees in non–science-and-engineering areas.
- The IR scores for the other three racial/ethnic and gender categories ranged from slightly less than 56 to slightly less than 78.
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Mathematics and Science Experiences of Young Women 
Young women in the United States continue to be more likely than young men to stop taking courses, earn lower grades, and lose interest in mathematics and science during the high school years. As early as 7th grade, girls are less likely than boys to aspire to mathematics and science jobs or to believe science knowledge is needed for a good job.
When the mathematics and science experiences of women in race and class subgroups are examined, class affects these experiences in an expected manner. For example, women from upper SES (socioeconomic status) families are over three times as likely as those from lower SES families to have scored in the upper quartile on mathematics and science achievement indicators at some time during their high school years. Race, however, does not always work in the expected way. In fact, equally qualified black women are more likely to have positive mathematics and science achievement and to be taking mathematics and science courses than are their white counterparts. Analyses of these young black women’s resources suggests that their advantage may come from mothers who have high expectations and are very involved in their daughters’ lives.
An understanding of gender and science requires a longitudinal look at experiences in multiple areas of mathematics and science. Ebbs and flows in science interest and aptitude are common. Most women do not permanently leave the science pipeline until the post–high-school years.
–Sandra L. Hanson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Catholic University, Adapted from Lost Talent: Women in the Sciences
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The Engineering Path[4]
Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education examines the routes students take to earn an undergraduate degree in engineering.[5] In its most elaborate configuration, this route, or engineering path (EPATH) sets forth 11 "stations beyond the threshold" for bachelor’s degree candidates. Each station describes student history (for example, "Mediocre Performance, Leaves Engineering for a different science, mathematics, engineering, or technology (SMET) field" or "Completes Bachelor’s in Engineering, Architecture, or Engineering Technology and Continues to Graduate School in a non-SMET field").
Text table 3-8 aggregates these heuristics for academic career histories into three stations and compares men and women. The story told by these and allied data is complex. On the one hand, the academic background of women, particularly in mathematics, was stronger than for men. At the same time, however, their degree completion rate in engineering (insert graphics) was significantly lower, even though the grade-point averages (GPAs) of female degree-completers were almost identical to those of men (men: 2.88, standard deviation = .561; women: 2.98, standard deviation = .437). Among degree completers, a far lower percentage of women had planned to major in engineering when they were seniors in high school, suggesting that some programs have been successful in changing women’s attitudes toward the field.
Over a third (35.4 percent) of the women who reached the curricular threshold continued, but then changed fields. Compared to men who left the engineering path, this group had slightly weaker mathematics backgrounds and slightly lower GPAs (2.71 to 2.83), but a much higher proportion of bachelor’s degree completers (80 percent for women versus 60 percent for men). Where did they go? The physical sciences (not the life sciences) and computer science took most (44 percent) of the women who left engineering and completed bachelor’s degrees in other fields. (See text table 3-9.) These choices may reflect prior academic investments in mathematics and interest in more theoretical SMET fields.
–Clifford Adelman, Senior Research Analyst, U.S. Department of Education
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Changes in Course Participation, 1972–1993
College transcripts from two longitudinal studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics provide the basis for generating time-series data on college course taking.[6] The analysis focuses on students who primarily attend 4-year institutions. Text table 3-10 displays the changes in the proportion of students in each cohort who completed courses in four key categories of mathematics. (There are 20 course categories in the mathematics taxonomy used in these studies.) With few exceptions, participation rates increased for all subgroups in all four of the categories. A principal reason for this expansion may lie in a jump in the proportion of bachelor’s degree recipients majoring in business fields from 17 percent to 25 percent; simultaneously, the mathematics requirements for business degrees increased.
Nonetheless, with respect to participation, the following conclusions can be reached:
- Women reached virtual "participation parity" with men in college algebra and statistics taught in mathematics departments.
- The ratio of men to women completers of calculus courses dropped from 2.43:1 to 1.75:1. There is another category of calculus course not included in this table, "Calculus for Life Sciences, Economics, or Business," in which women reached near participation parity with men (for the High School and Beyond/Sophomore Cohort, 4.3 percent of women completed this "applied calculus" course compared to 4.8 percent of men).
- Among underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, Hispanic students evidence the most dramatic increase in participation in calculus; black students have the lowest participation rate.
Text table 3-11 shows the proportion of students reaching midlevel course work in key laboratory sciences. The midlevel courses were chosen to illustrate the extent to which students from different groups persist beyond introductory courses. Because the courses are midlevel, the percentage of students taking them will be comparatively small. Where there are major changes in these percentages, for example in genetics or organic chemistry, it must be determined whether these changes are caused by changes in fields of concentration. Partly for this reason, the courses selected are generally less dependent on a student’s major than others. Such courses as microbiology, anatomy and physiology, or organic biochemistry (all of which are part of the Nursing curriculum) were not selected for this analysis because they distort the issue of women’s participation in science beyond the introductory level. Nursing and allied sciences, like engineering, are still gender-segmented fields.[7]
There were considerable declines in participation rates in both basic and midlevel laboratory science courses from 1972 to 1982, a trend in the opposite direction of that in mathematics. In text table 3-11, these declines are noticeable in both genetics and organic chemistry, particularly among men. Only among Asian students did participation rates not decline.
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Baccalaureate Origins of Black Women Earning Doctorates
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play a critical role in educating black women who go on to earn doctorates in science and engineering. A study examining the baccalaureate origins of 1,465 black women who went on to earn doctoral degrees between 1975 and 1992 in the fields of biological sciences, physical sciences, and the social sciences noted that, in 1992, black women earned 49 percent of the science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded to black U.S. citizens (Leggon and Pearson, 1997). Of these, the greatest number earned was in the social sciences (1,217), followed by the biological sciences (211), and the physical sciences (37).
Across fields, 52 percent earned their undergraduate degrees from predominantly white colleges and universities (PWCUs), 38 percent from HBCUs, and 10 percent from women’s colleges, but there were significant differences by field.
Among black women earning doctorates in the biological sciences, almost 75 percent earned undergraduate degrees from HBCUs. Of the remaining 25 percent, half received bachelor’s degrees from PWCUs and half from women’s colleges. A similar pattern holds for black women earning doctorates in the physical sciences. Slightly more than two-thirds had baccalaureate origins in HBCUs. Equal proportions of the remaining one-third had such origins in women’s colleges and PWCUs.
For those in the social sciences, almost 60 percent earned the baccalaureate from PWCUs; approximately 30 percent from HBCUs; and less than 10 percent from women’s colleges. Of the 27 biological scientists earning undergraduate degrees in women’s colleges, 18, or two-thirds, earned them from the two historically black women’s colleges—Spelman and Bennett. Of the six African American women earning a doctorate in the physical sciences between 1975 and 1992, four did so from Spelman College. Among the 115 African American women earning social science doctorates, Spelman and Bennett produced more than all of the Seven Sisters colleges—54 and 51, respectively.[8]
Across fields, Spelman and Bennett Colleges produced slightly more than half of the black women earning doctorates, the Seven Sisters produced approximately two-fifths, and other women’s colleges produced one-tenth.
–Cheryl B. Leggon, Wake Forest University
The continuing importance of HBCUs to the undergraduate science and engineering education of black men and women, whether or not they go on to earn doctorates, can be seen in text tables 3-12, 3-13 and 3-14.
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Degree Recipients in Science and Engineering From Universities in Puerto Rico
Since 1991, the number of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in science and engineering (S&E) fields conferred by institutions in Puerto Rico has increased. In 1995, institutions in Puerto Rico accounted for a significant proportion of Hispanics in the United States earning S&E degrees–16 percent of bachelor’s, 11 percent of master’s, and 6 percent of doctoral degrees (see figure 3-4 and appendix tables 3-28, 3-29, and 3-30).
Universities in Puerto Rico accounted for 27 percent of the engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics in the United States in 1995. Among natural science fields, Puerto Rican universities accounted for 26 percent of biological science and 39 percent of physical science bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics (NSF, 1997).
Of recent science and engineering bachelor’s degree recipients from institutions in Puerto Rico, 35 percent attended graduate school. Of those who earned their bachelor’s degree from Puerto Rican institutions and then earned a doctorate in science and engineering from 1991 to 1995, 75 percent earned their doctorates from universities on the continent and 25 percent from universities in Puerto Rico. Two universities in Puerto Rico–University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras and University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez–provided doctorate education to the majority of science and engineering doctorate recipients from universities in Puerto Rico.
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Footnotes
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