Pathways to success: Affirming opportunities for science, mathematics, and engineering majors

Using cross-tabulations, factor analyses, and logistic regressions, this study examined the flow out of and into science, mathematics, and engineering (SME) majors of a cohort of African American, American Indian, and Chicano/Latino undergraduates (N = 330) and factors associated with persistence in those majors. The targeted minorities experienced greater attrition from SME majors than did White and Asian Americans. Females from targeted groups showed the largest outflow, followed by their male counterparts. Person-organization "fit" and peer values related to campus activism and engagement were negatively associated with SME persistence. The absence of person-organization fit influence for targeted minorities suggests a need for further study on the relevance of established SME values, educational inequity, self-selectivity, and other influences that limit minority SME representation.