First-generation Latina students are applying to four-year universities; however, they are doing so in low numbers. Those who do apply, select community colleges and "Familismo" and "Marianismo" may be hindering them from pursuing four-year schools. Research on first-generation Latina students is replete with data collected…

Background: Women and under-represented minority (URM) students continue to be under-represented in STEM and earn the lowest proportion of undergraduate engineering degrees. We employed a mixed methods research approach grounded in social capital theory to investigate "when" they first consider pursuing engineering as a college degree…

This paper uses administrative North Carolina data linked from high school to college and national surveys to characterize the largest contributor to the STEM gender gap: engineering. Disparities are the result of differential entry during high school or earlier rather than postsecondary exit. Differences in pre-college academic preparation…

Using the 2002 Educational Longitudinal Study database, a national survey conducted by the National Center of Education Statistics, the authors investigated the characteristics of students who seek out professional school counselors in order to receive college information. Results indicated that African Americans and female students were more…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived outcomes associated with girls' school attendance, with a focus on examining alumnae perceptions of the effectiveness of their schools in preparing them for the academic and social aspects of college. Drawing on the responses of more than 1,000 alumnae representing 61 schools, the findings of…

The relative participation of high ability male and female college students as natural science majors and attrition of these students from the sciences to other majors were studied at a highly selective, comprehensive research university. Of concern were the following major fields: biology, microbiology, biophysics, premedicine, astronomy,…

Examines the relationship of seven sociocultural, institutional, and psychological factors to college attendance and persistence in Hispanic women. Uses data taken from high school seniors in the 1982 first-year followup to the "High School and Beyond" survey. Educational aspiration, choosing nontraditional sex roles, college…

Our schools are environments of race and class and these school environments structure opportunity based on race and class. This paper explores how students' lives and their access to postsecondary education are framed and structured by the influences of race and class. The college choice decision process of three female Black students from a…

In light of the many changes of the past 20 years, it may be expected that plans of high school seniors for further education may have also changed, along with the kinds of jobs they expect to have and the things they regard as important. These questions are examined through data from the National Longitudinal Study of 1972 (NLS) and the National…

The purpose of this longitudinal case study is to describe the educational trajectories of a sample of 152 young women from urban, low-income, single-parent families who participated in the Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program during high school. Utilizing data drawn from program records, surveys, and interviews, this study also attempts to…