University Differences in the Graduation of Minorities in STEM Fields: Evidence from California
Open accessAbstract
We examine differences in minority science graduation rates among University of California campuses when racial preferences were in place. Less prepared minorities at higher ranked campuses had lower persistence rates in science and took longer to graduate. We estimate a model of students' college major choice where net returns of a science major differ across campuses and student preparation. We find less prepared minority students at top ranked campuses would have higher science graduation rates had they attended lower ranked campuses. Better matching of science students to universities by preparation and providing information about students' prospects in different major-university combinations could increase minority science graduation. (JEL D14, E23, E32, E43, E52, E61, E62)
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Increased university selectivity tends to decrease students' likelihood of earning STEM degrees along different margins.
“increased university selectivity tends to decrease students' likelihood of earning STEM degrees along different margins”
From Affirmative Action, Mismatch, and Economic Mobility after California’s Proposition 209 (2021) · cites this paper as Arcidiacono, Aucejo, and Hotz, 2016
The Conclusion reports lower science graduation rates for less-prepared students at more selective UC campuses. But it also finds that more selective campuses have an advantage in graduating better-prepared science students, so the claim is too broad when applied to students generally. The supplied passages do not provide page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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Cites
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Affirmative action and university fit: evidence from Proposition 209
Arcidiacono, P., Aucejo, E., Coate, P., & Hotz, V. J. (2014) · IZA Journal of Labor Economics · doi:10.1186/2193-8997-3-7 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Does STEM Stand Out? Examining Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Persistence Across Postsecondary Fields
Riegle-Crumb, C., King, B., & Irizarry, Y. (2019) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x19831006 · Cited by 411 · see citing works
Affirmative Action, Mismatch, and Economic Mobility after California’s Proposition 209
Bleemer, Z. (2021) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1093/qje/qjab027 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
- Authors
- Arcidiacono, P., Aucejo, E. M., & Hotz, V. J.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hotz, V. Joseph
- Venue
- American Economic Review
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2016-03-01
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 525-562
- ISSN
- 0002-8282 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6675032
- OpenAlex
- W3023939415
- Cited by
- 198
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5
- FWCI
- 76.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Economic Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/M010341/1)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD065563)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Keywords
- minority students, racial preferences, college major choice, university rankings, student preparation, University of California, university admission
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