STEM Interest on Rise Among High Schoolers, Report Finds
Education Week (01/30/13) Robelen, Erik W.According to a recent report from My College Options and STEMconnector, nearly 25 percent of high school students are interested in pursuing STEM majors and careers, though the gender gap has widened with fewer females showing STEM interest. The top major or career choice among these students in 2012 was mechanical engineering, with 20 percent of students interested, followed by biology, with 12 percent of students interested. Only 13 percent of females expressed interest in STEM, compared to 38 percent of males in the class of 2013. The report also indicated that for the class of 2016, 45 percent of males were interested in STEM majors or careers, versus only 13 percent of females. The report also found that there are few differences in STEM interest among current high school students when broken down by region or state, and STEM interest varied by less than 2 percent when broken down by household income. In terms of ethnicity, 32.8 percent of Asian students were interested in STEM, compared to 22.5 percent of African American students, with other groups falling in between. For more information, click here.
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