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. 2018 Mar 14;4(3):eaao6373.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aao6373. eCollection 2018 Mar.

Coming out in STEM: Factors affecting retention of sexual minority STEM students

Bryce E Hughes  1
Affiliations

Coming out in STEM: Factors affecting retention of sexual minority STEM students

Bryce E Hughes. Sci Adv. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Using a national longitudinal survey data set from the Higher Education Research Institute, this study tested whether students who identified as a sexual minority (for example, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer) were more or less likely to persist after 4 years in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, as opposed to switching to a non-STEM program, compared to their heterosexual peers. A multilevel regression model controlling for various experiences and characteristics previously determined to predict retention in STEM demonstrated that, net of these variables, sexual minority students were 8% less likely to be retained in STEM compared to switching into a non-STEM program. Despite this finding, sexual minority STEM students were more likely to report participating in undergraduate research programs, and the gender disparity in STEM retention appears to be reversed for sexual minority STEM students.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Proportion of students who aspired to a STEM degree at college entry, in 2011, and who also indicated a STEM major at the end of their fourth year, in 2015, in total and disaggregated by sexual minority status.
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