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The Role of Living–Learning Programs in Women’s Plans to Attend Graduate School in STEM Fields

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Abstract

This paper examines the role of living–learning (L/L) programs in undergraduate women’s plans to attend graduate school in STEM fields. Using data from the 2004–2007 National Study of Living Learning Programs (NSLLP), the only existing multi-institutional, longitudinal dataset examining L/L program outcomes, the findings show that women’s participation in women-only STEM-focused L/L programs is positively associated with STEM graduate school aspirations, in comparison to residing in co-educational STEM L/L programs, all other L/L programs, and traditional residence halls. Socially supportive residence hall climates and women’s self-assessments as performing better than men in STEM contexts were also positively associated with STEM graduate school plans, while academically supportive residence hall climates and visiting the work setting of a STEM professional held negative relationships with the outcome. Implications are discussed for L/L programs and the utility of women-only programming within coeducational institutions of higher education.

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Notes

  1. These percentages reflect a calculation that does not include psychology and the social sciences as fields in science and engineering. Instead, it focuses on graduate students in agricultural sciences; biological sciences; computer sciences; earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences; mathematics and statistics; physical sciences; and engineering.

  2. There were several other types of L/L programs identified in the Living-Learning Programs Typology that were not STEM-based (Honors Programs, Transition Programs, Outdoor Recreation Programs, Cultural Programs, etc.), which, for the purposes of this study, will be referred to as “non-STEM L/L programs.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Leadership in Education, University of Massachusetts Boston, Wheatley Hall, First Floor, Room 77I, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA, 02125, USA

    Katalin Szelényi

  2. Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas

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  1. Katalin Szelényi
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  2. Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas
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Correspondence to Katalin Szelényi.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4 and 5.

Table 4 Scales in the study
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Table 5 Means and standard deviations of the variables in the study
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Szelényi, K., Inkelas, K.K. The Role of Living–Learning Programs in Women’s Plans to Attend Graduate School in STEM Fields. Res High Educ 52, 349–369 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-010-9197-9

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