Selecting a College Major€¦ · •Findings are part of ACT’s College Choice Report •Focus of...
Transcript of Selecting a College Major€¦ · •Findings are part of ACT’s College Choice Report •Focus of...
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Selecting a College Major Nancy Rehling Director, Strategic Integration & Insights Brand Experience ACT, Inc. [email protected]
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Overview
• Findings are part of ACT’s College Choice Report
• Focus of series • Class of 2012: Self-reported college preferences • Class of 2013: Selecting a college major • Class of 2014: Expanding college opportunities
• Series follows a high school graduating class over time • High school • First year of college • Second year of college
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Overview
• Report released in three parts:
Preferences and Prospects (November, 2013)
Persistence and Transfer (April, 2015)
Enrollment Patterns (July, 2014)
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Overview
Road Map:
• Planning a major
• Declaring a major
• Persisting within a major
• Needing help with planning
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Planning a Major High School
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How many students select a planned major?
79
15
6
Planned Major Status
Selected
Undecided
Missing
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Which students are more likely to be undecided?
• Males
• Higher achieving students
• Students whose parents have more education
• Students whose families have more income
14
16
12
20
12
16
11
16
Female
Male
ACT 1-15
ACT 33-36
No college
Advanced deg.
<$36k
$100k+
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Which planned major areas are most/least popular?
Most popular:
• Health Sciences & Technology (24%)
• Business (11%)
Least popular:
• Area, Ethnic, & Multidisciplinary Studies (.2%)
• Philosophy, Religion, & Theology (.6%)
There are 294 planned majors, grouped into 18 planned major areas
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Which planned major areas have gender gaps?
Gaps favoring females:
• Health Sciences & Technology: 32% female, 14% male
• Education: 9% female, 4% male
• Health Administration & Assisting: 6% female, 2% male
Gaps favoring males:
• Engineering: 17% male, 3% female
• Business: 15% male, 9% female
• Computer Science & Mathematics: 6% male, <1% female
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How certain are students of their planned majors?
41
45
15
Certainty of Planned Major
Very sure
Fairly sure
Not sure
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Who is more likely to be “very sure” of their plans?
• Females
• Lower achieving students
• Students whose parents have less education
• Students whose families have less income
44
37
52
25
49
33
50
33
Female
Male
ACT 1-15
ACT 33-36
No college
Advanced deg.
<$36k
$100k+
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Is there good fit between planned major and interests?
36
32
32
Interest-Major Fit
Good fit
Moderate fit
Poor fit
Interest-major fit: Relationship between the student’s profile of ACT Interest Inventory scores and the profile of interests of students in a given college major.
Interest-major fit: Relationship between the student’s profile of ACT Interest Inventory scores and the profile of interests of students in a given college major.
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Who is more likely to have “good” Interest-Major Fit?
• Higher achieving students
• Students whose parents have more education
• Students whose families have more income
27
49
32
41
33
40
ACT 1-15
ACT 33-36
No college
Advanced deg.
<$36k
$100k+
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How important is major in choosing a college?
50 50
Most Important College Choice Factor
Major
Other
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Who is more likely to think major is most important?
• Higher achieving students
• Students whose parents have more education
• Students whose families have more income
39
67
43
56
44
57
1-15
33-36
No College
Advanced deg.
<$36K
$100K+
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Declaring a Major First year of college
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How many declare a major in their planned major area?
55
57
44
All students 4-year students 2-year students
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How many declare a major in their planned major area?
51
57
Other Major
Most Important College Choice Factor
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Which major areas have best/worst consistency rates?
Best rates:
• Business (68%)
• Health Sciences & Technologies (64%)
• Engineering (63%)
Worst rates:
• Engineering Technologies & Drafting (15%)
• Area, Ethnic, & Multidisciplinary Studies (8%)
• Health Administration & Assisting (7%)
Consistency rate: The percentage of first-year students who declared a major in their planned major area.
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Where are the biggest gender gaps in consistency rates?
Gaps favoring females:
• Health Sciences & Technology: 67% female, 54% male
• Education: 55% female, 34% male
• Health Administration & Assisting: 8% female, 5% male
Gaps favoring males:
• Repair, Production & Construction: 58% male, 40% female
• Philosophy, Religion & Theology: 38% male, 23% female
• Engineering Technology and Drafting: 16% male, 9% female
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What predicts consistency rates?
Academic achievement
41
49
54 58
61
66
1-15 16-19 20-23 24-27 28-32 33-36
ACT Composite Score Range
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What predicts consistency rates?
Academic achievement
Certainty of planned major
42
52
62
Not sure Fairly sure Very sure
Certainty of Planned Major
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What predicts consistency rates?
Academic achievement
Certainty of planned major
Level of Interest-Major Fit
46
54
61
Poor Moderate Good
Interest-Major Fit
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What predicts consistency rates?
Academic achievement
Certainty of planned major
Level of Interest-Major Fit
All of the above 23
51
76
Low ACT,Not Sure,Poor Fit
Avg. ACT,Fairly Sure,
Mod. Fit
High ACT,Very Sure,Good Fit
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Does Interest-Major Fit change with declared major?
24
44
32
Better Same Worse
Among students who declare a major outside of their planned area
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Persisting Within a Major Second year of college
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How many students persist within their major?
81
19
Within Major Persistence
Persisted
Did not Persist
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Which major areas have best/worst persistence rates?
Best rates:
• Repair, Production, & Construction (90%)
• Business (87%)
Worst rates:
• Area, Ethnic, & Multidisciplinary Studies (66%)
• Health Administration & Assisting (67%)
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Where are the biggest gender gaps in persistence rates?
Gaps favoring females:
• Health Administration & Assisting: 70% female, 57% male
• Health Sciences & Technology: 79% female, 67% male
Gaps favoring males:
• Engineering Technology and Drafting: 78% male, 67% female
• Computer Science & Mathematics: 82% male, 73% female
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What predicts within-major persistence?
Academic achievement
79 78 79 81 84
89
1-15 16-19 20-23 24-27 28-32 33-36
ACT Composite Score Range
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What predicts within-major persistence?
Consistency of
planned major choice
84
76
Consistent Inconsistent
Consistency with Planned Major
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What predicts within-major persistence?
Consistency of
planned major choice
& change in
Interest-Major Fit
84
76
Consistent Inconsistent
Consistency with Planned Major
79 76 74
Better Same Worse
Change in Interest-Major Fit
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What predicts within-major persistence?
Interest-Major Fit
for declared major
77 81 83
Poor Fit Moderate Fit Good Fit
Interest-Major Fit
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How does within-major persistence differ by transfer?
40 44
47 51
4-yearto
2-year
2-yearto
4-year
2-yearto
2-year
4-yearto
4-year
To what extent are students: 1) Changing majors as a result of transferring? OR 2) Transferring as a result of changing majors?
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Needing Help With Planning High School
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How many students need help with their planning?
61
39
Educational/Occupational Planning
Need help
Do not need help
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Which students are more likely to report needing help?
• Higher achieving students
• Students who are undecided about their planned major choice
• Students who are not “Very sure” of their planned major choice
59
71
60
73
50
68
ACT 1-15
ACT 33-36
Planned a major
Undecided
Very sure
Fairly/Not sure
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Take Aways
During High School…
• Many students are either undecided about their major or are uncertain of their choice.
• Students with higher achievement, income, and parent education are less certain but tend to have better fit with their interests.
• Students with lower achievement, income, and parent education are more certain but tend to have worse fit with their interests.
• Most students need help, but those needs may differ depending on their academic preparation, certainty, and fit
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Take Aways
During First Year of College…
• Having higher achievement, greater certainty, and better fit means more likely to declare as planned.
• Most students who declare outside of their planned area have the same or worse fit.
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Take Aways
During Second Year of College…
• Students who declare a major that is consistent with their plans are more likely to persist within that major area.
• Among students who declare a major that is inconsistent with their plans, those who improve the fit with their interests are more likely to persist within that major area.
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College Major Tool
• Visualize the movement of students among 18 major areas from: • Pre-college plans to first-year declared major
• First-year declared major to second-year declared major.
• Examine student flow both • Into each major area
• Out of each major area
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Just Released
Enrollment Planners Conference
Chicago, IL
July, 2015
Expanding Opportunities
Enrollment Patterns
Class of 2014
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Contact Information
• ACT’s College Choice Report
http://www.act.org/collegechoice/
• College Major Tool http://www.act.org/collegechoice/13/studentmovement.html
Nancy Rehling Director, Strategic Integration & Insights Brand Experience ACT, Inc. [email protected]