The Processes and Consequences of Switching, Including the Loss of High-Performing STEM Majors (original) (raw)

Talking about Leaving Revisited, 2019

Abstract

The contributory causes of switching and relocation were presented in Chap. 3 as a summary of STEM students, overall. However, as described in subsequent chapters, there are variations in what prompts these decisions. Drawing on both interview and institutional records data analysis, in this chapter, we explore reasons why high-performing STEM majors—particularly women—switch to non-STEM fields. We also discuss variations in the processes whereby decisions to switch or relocate are reached, and in the negative personal consequences that switching often involves. Given this patterned variability, we argue that single cause theories about which students are most at risk of switching, and why and how they leave the sciences, cannot be accurate.

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