Research Projects
Active Studies
Education and Financial Vulnerability Across the Adult Life Course During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Russell Sage Foundation
Grant number 2102-30516
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Principal Investigator, April Sutton (University of California, San Diego).
2021-2023
This study examines the pathways through which education might protect individuals in buffering the shock of the crisis. Specifically, we focus on the following two research questions: 1) To what extent is higher educational attainment associated with better financial health and lower financial distress among diverse adults of different generations? Did the crisis exacerbate educational disparities in financial health? 2) Are the relationships between educational attainment and financial health rooted in academic and social inequalities that existed prior to degree attainment? Are these prior inequalities independently associated with financial health, above and beyond their association with educational attainment? Specifically, we focus on (a) prior inequalities in educational experiences and (b) parents’ socioeconomic attributes.
Growth Mindset and Socioeconomic Disparities in College Readiness
William T. Grant Foundation
Grant number 189706
Principal Investigator: David S. Yeager (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Investigators: Chandra Muller and Robert Crosnoe (University of Texas at Austin
2019-2022
This project will carry out a long-term follow-up to students who participated in the National Study of Learning Mindsets, which was a randomized trial conducted with a random sample of U.S. public schools during the 2015-2016 school year. The study will examine the effects on reductions in socioeconomic inequality in college readiness and enrollment. The potential long-term effects will build on promising analyses showing significant effects on 9th grade math/science grades and 10th grade advanced math course enrollment (Algebra II), which were stronger for first-generation college students who attended sufficiently-resourced high schools. The research will examine schools’ curricular offerings in greater detail by coding students’ transcripts and schools’ math curricula, and look at end-of-high-school outcomes, such as students' completion of rigorous "portfolios" of courses. The result will be an answer to the question of whether a mindset intervention plus a rigorous math curriculum can partially remedy the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic inequality. Answering this question will have strong implications for educational practice and also for theories of how individual agency and social structures interact to shape group-based inequalities.
Educational and Early Life Predictors of Mild Cognitive Impairment: New Evidence about Mediators and Moderators from High School & Beyond
National Institutes of Health / National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA)
Grant number R01AG058719-01A1
Principal Investigator: John Robert Warren (University of Minnesota)
Co-Investigators: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin), Eric Grodsky (University of Wisconsin); Jennifer Manly (Columbia University)
2019-2024
This project brings together an interdisciplinary team of leading neurologists, neuropsychologists, sociologists, education scientists, and survey methodologists who will design protocols to re-contact all ≈25,500 surviving members the High School & Beyond (HSB) cohort—a nationally representative random sample of Americans first interviewed in high school in 1980—and use the resulting data to conduct transformative analyses of the effects of education on cognitive function and risk for impairment at midlife. The project has five aims: (Aim 1) To estimate the effects of (a) adolescent cognitive and non-cognitive skills, (b) secondary school course taking and college field of study, and (c) other school structures and social environments on cognitive functioning and impairment at midlife; (Aim 2) To assess the degree to which racial/ethnic differences in those aspects of education explain racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive functioning and impairment; (Aim 3) To assess the degree to which the effects of education are mediated by educational attainment, economic strain, and the cognitive complexity of paid jobs at midlife; and (Aim 4) To assess the degree to which race/ethnicity and genetic risk factors moderate the effects of education on cognitive functioning and impairment. Research reported in this press release was supported by National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AG058719. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
National Study of Learning Mindsets into a Cornerstone Dataset for the Science of Learning Mindsets
Raikes Foundation
Grant number 17-01177
Principal Investigator: David Yeager (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Investigators: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin) and Rob Crosnoe (University of Texas at Austin)
2018-2021
The study team will launch a second wave of data collection, analysis, and dissemination to leverage the study’s unique design and build on the compelling findings from the first wave of data collection in 2015-16. Goal 1 - Understand the long-run effects of learning mindset interventions and classroom mindset climates and communicate them with policymakers and the public. Goal 2 - Understand the role of context in sustaining or undermining the long-term benefits of mindsets—and in how mindsets can help reduce inequalities. Goal 3 - Create the best, recent longitudinal study of adolescents in America. Goal 4 - Achieve a representative sample for the longitudinal follow-up.
Next Generation Engineers: Examining the Pathways of Adolescent Females in SWENext
National Science Foundation - EEC 1825328
2018-2021
Principal Investigator: Catherine Riegel-Crumb
This project is a research collaboration between the University of Texas and the Society for Women Engineers that follows a purposive sample of high school girls participating in SWENext, an organization dedicated to identifying and supporting young women interested in engineering. This study will employ a mixed-methods approach; the quantitative component will follow a sample of approximately 700-900 girls over a period of three years (as they transition from high school into college) via online surveys, while a qualitative component will similarly follow a longitudinal sample of 30 girls over time with in-depth interviews. This project will address several aims that will extend the research on inequality in engineering and STEM fields in important ways. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 11825328. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Math Classrooms, Student Mindsets and STEM Pathways in High School
National Science Foundation - HRD 1761179
2018-2021
Principal Investigator: David Yeager (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Principal Investigators: Chandra Muller and Robert Crosnoe (University of Texas at Austin)
The present study will analyze NSLM data to investigate if 9th grade math classroom climates and students? use of a growth mindsets worked together to help students successfully complete advanced math and science courses in the early high school years. The four main objectives of the study include: (1) Coding 8th to 10th grade STEM course-taking patterns among students who participated in the NSLM and describing the extent to which minority groups are under-represented in advanced STEM coursework; (2) Testing whether a 9th grade math class with a strong growth mindset climate predicts higher rates of persistence in 10th grade STEM courses among students from under-represented groups; (3) Identifying the growth-oriented teacher practices that best create a growth mindset climate and increase STEM course persistence; and (4) Testing whether the effect on 10th grade STEM course persistence of a growth mindset intervention given directly to students in 9th grade depends on the 9th grade math classroom climate. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1761179. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Longitudinal follow-up to the National Study of Learning Mindsets
William and Melinda Gates Foundation
Grant number OPP1197627
2018-2021
Principal Investigator: David Yeager (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Principal Investigators: Robert Crosnoe and Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
This study will carry out a long-term follow-up to a cohort of students who participated in the National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM), which is a randomized trial evaluating a learning mindset intervention (growth mindset + purpose) conducted in a nationally-represenative sample of regular U.S. public high schools in the 2015-2016 school year. This will involve collecting and analyzing students’ end-of-high school (i.e. summer 2019) transcripts, which will report their course-taking, their grades and credits, their graduate status, and their test scores. It will also involve tracking students through the National Student Clearinghouse to discern long-term post-secondary outcomes. Analyses will determine whether (1) the intervention effects persist until the end of high school and into college, (2) the intervention effects are larger for students from racial, ethnic, and social class groups typically under-represented in higher education, and (3) whether the formal learning opportunities in a school and the informal learning climate explain variability across schools in where the intervention effect persists and where it does not. In order to facilitate data sharing agreements between the researchers and the schools, the research team will establish a Research Practice Partnership with the 76 schools in the NSLM. This will result in schools obtaining valuable reports and PD about how to use learning mindsets research to improve key accountability indicators such as freshman on-track rates or college/career readiness. As a part of the Research Practice Partnership, we will collect information on math curriculum and tie it to students’ mindsets, but this proposal does not yet involve coding or analysis of the math curriculum.
STEM Education and Workforce Participation over the Life Cycle: The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Disability Status
National Science Foundation - DRL 1420691
2014-2020
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
This collaborative study with Rob Warren of the University of Minnesota and Eric Grodsky of the University of Wisconsin is investigating how the STEM skills and training that people gain in secondary and postsecondary school contribute to their ability to continue to learn and adapt to changing workplace expectations even after they leave school, thereby contributing to their workforce success in midlife. This project extends the work begun with our other projects, STEM Education Effects on a Diverse Workforce's Development over the Life Cycle (National Science Foundation) and High School and Beyond: Human Capital over the Life Cycle as a Foundation for Working Longer (Alfred P. Sloan), by collecting a new round of interviews from the High School and Beyond (HS&B) senior cohort. Combined, the sophomore and senior cohorts will provide adequate statistical power for population estimates about the long-run processes through which STEM skills learned in school translate into later life adaptation at the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity, and disability status for persons who are underrepresented in STEM.
The project has the following two aims: 1) Re-interview members of the HS&B senior cohort and produce a database of the 2014 follow-up of that can be used by the broader research community to generate new knowledge on workforce development and broadening participation in STEM, including for students and workers at the intersection of underrepresented groups; and 2) Investigate the STEM training that students acquire and the STEM competencies they develop in schools from specific coursework, test scores, and grades to degree attainment and field of degree and analyze how these contribute to workforce success and flexibility in midlife work for persons with diverse, intersecting attributes, including those who are underrepresented in STEM. The intersecting attributes of particular interest are: (A) Women and men of color (African American and Hispanic) and (B) Women and men who have disabilities.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL 1420691. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
http://sites.utexas.edu/hsb/
The Role of Academic Achievement and Social Inclusion in Broadening STEM Participation: Intended and Actual Attainment at the Intersection of Gender and Race/Ethnicity.
National Science Foundation - HRD 1348819
2014-2020
Principal Investigator. Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Principal Investigator, Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin).
Despite decades of prior research investigating disparities in STEM participation, much remains unknown about how to overcome the obstacles to equality. This study will make an important new contribution to the literature by examining the STEM trajectories of different gender and racial/ethnic subgroups with an explicit focus on the experiences of minority females as well as those of minority males to gain a more comprehensive and comparative picture of contemporary patterns of inequality. Specifically, it examines differences between subgroups in intended as well as actual STEM attainment, and investigates how patterns of academic achievement and social inclusion contribute to such disparities. The project will utilize data from five large-scale and longitudinal datasets that collectively provide the chance to investigate STEM trajectories at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender from 6th grade to the end of college.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD 1348819. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Collaborative Research: Early Career Transitions into STEM Employment: Processes Shaping Retention and Satisfaction
National Science Foundation - DGE 1432673
2014-2020
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Glass (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Principal Investigator: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
Contemporary debates about STEM education and the STEM labor force center around claims that there is both a shortage of trained workers for the scientific and technical needs of employers, and that this shortage could be ameliorated with larger numbers of women and minorities trained in STEM disciplines where they are currently underrepresented. Our primary research questions deal with both issues by first investigating the transition from STEM education into the labor force for women and men, and then investigating the role of employment conditions, alternative job opportunities, and workplace climate for retention. Our goal is to understand the large gender difference in occupational retention among STEM graduates in the early career, and the results of field departures for women’s and men’s occupational success and earnings.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.DGE 1432673. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Developing STEM Aspirations: An Examination of Contextual Influences and Inequality by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Spencer Foundation - Grant number 210400078
Fall 2013-present
Principal Investigator: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin); Co-Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
This project examines how the academic and social contexts of classrooms and schools contribute to the gender gap in STEM aspirations among adolescents from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds as they transition from middle school into high school. The scope of the project entails collecting surveys and administrative data from two cohorts of high school students (9th and 10th graders) in a large urban school district, where the PIs have previously collected extensive data about students’ middle school years. The addition of this new data collection will create a unique longitudinal dataset that spans across the critical formative years of students’ STEM pathways. The project contributes to an emerging body of research that examines how inequality in STEM outcomes is shaped by local environments, thereby moving beyond the more typical focus on how individuals’ achievement or attitudes predict later choices, as these pipeline models have proven inadequate to explain gender disparities.
Completed Studies
STEM Education Effects on a Diverse Workforce's Development over the Life Cycle
National Science Foundation - HRD 1348527
2014-2019
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller
This study, which is collaborative with Rob Warren at the University of Minnesota, investigates how STEM skills and training that individuals acquire during hight school and college contribute to their workforce success and the types of occupations they enjoy in midlife. It uses the High School & Beyond study (HS&B) database, a nationally representative study of high school sophomores in 1980. HS&B contains a large enough sample of African Americans and Latinos (including those who earned postsecondary degrees) to provide information about how our education system can prepare diverse students to fully participate in a complex and rapidly changing workforce, even during middle and later adulthood, and long past the completion of their formal education. The HS&B is an ideal vehicle for analyzing the priorities and best approaches to broadening participation in our STEM-based workforce through education that has lasting effects on workforce development among our diverse population today.
A key aspect of our rapidly changing economy is the high demand for workers with STEM skills who can innovate and flexibly adapt to innovation. What skills make individuals able to adapt and succeed? And what did their schools do to prepare them? To address these questions, this study has four research aims:
1. Identify the aspects of STEM training in schools—from specific coursework to degree attainment and field of degree—that contribute to workforce success and flexibility during early adulthood and in later midlife work. 2. Analyze whether the relationship between STEM training and workforce success is the same for all workers, and if not, how it differs for women and men, African Americans, Latinos, and Whites. 3. Analyze whether the relationship between STEM training and workforce success differs for adults who were identified as disabled while in school in comparison to those who are not. 4. Produce a database on HS&B sample members’ occupations that can be used by the broader research community to generate new knowledge on workforce development and broadening participation in STEM.
Findings will directly contribute to our core knowledge about how to design more effective schools and programs to produce workers who will lead and innovate in a complex global economy. Our nation requires that all workers now have STEM skills and a public with scientific literacy. This project will help to identify the educational priorities to develop these skills and how U.S. schools—both high schools and institutions of higher education—can best equip students with these skills. Importantly, U.S. leadership in STEM requires the broad participation of every sector of our population. The project will evaluate which findings pertain to men and women, underrepresented racial and ethnic population subgroups, and persons with disabilities, and specifically what schools can do to diversify participation in the highly skilled workforce.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD 1348527. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
http://sites.utexas.edu/hsb/
National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM) Early Career Fellowship
New Venture Fund - NVF-006987
2018-2019
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller
The primary goal of the NSLM early career fellowship program is to expand the breadth of knowledge accumulation related to mindsets by growing and diversifying the pipeline of scientists conducting research on learning mindsets. Conducting high-quality interdisciplinary scholarship at a faster pace and with greater practical value to educational equity requires a larger body of scientists who bring more expansive expertise (theoretical, methodological, and personal). Encouraging a diverse group of early career scientists to use these data in a cross-disciplinary fellowship cohort brings a broader group of promising young scholars into a field in a way that has a permanent effect on the direction of their long-term careers. The National Study of Learning Early Career Fellowship (NSLM ECF) is a joint project of the Mindset Scholars Network and the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center. NSLM Early Career Fellows
The Developing Aspirations of Girls of Color Towards Computer Science: A Comparative Examination of the Role of Teachers, Peers, and STEM Stereotypes
Women of Color in Computing Collaborative, The Kapor Center, University of Arizona
2018-2019
Principal Investigator: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
Design Technology and Engineering Education for English Learner Students: Project DTEEL
National Science Foundation - DRK-12 Exploratory Award 1503428
2015-2018
Principles Investigator: Rebecca M. Callahan (University of Texas at Austin); Co_Principal Investigator: Richard H. Crawford (University of Texas at Austin)
The DTEEL project will adapt and refine the resources, models and tools (RMT) at the core of an established engineering education professional development (PD) program to address the needs of bilingual English Learner (EL) students and improve teachers’ EL and STEM instructional capacity. The study investigates how an engineering PD may increase teachers’ STEM instructional efficacy and abilities, as well as their EL instructional efficacy and abilities via a focus on engineering systems thinking designed to capitalize on bilinguals’ problem solving advantage. Specifically, the DTEEL project investigates the collaborative, communicative focus of engineering education as a means by which to improve teachers’ abilities to address EL students’ academic and linguistic needs.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1503428. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Building on STEP to Understand Variation in STEM Entry and Persistence
National Science Foundation - DUE 1317206
2013-2019
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin), Co-PI: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
This project is collaborative with Eric Grodsky at the University of Wisconsin at Madison to study STEM entry and persistence in higher education. The project builds on the knowledge generated by NSF STEP Type 1 projects to enrich our understanding of student pathways to a STEM baccalaureate and the impact of different types of interventions on those pathways across diverse students and STEM fields. The project is collecting and analyzing data from the Type 1 project sites to uncover the mechanisms that underlie the success or failure of Type 1 projects to increase the number of students who enter and complete bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields. Beyond their utility for increasing the foundation of STEM human capital through the students they serve, these Type 1 projects have tremendous potential to more fully address STEP’s basic mandate to increase the number of students earning degrees in STEM fields. Each of these interventions may be viewed as a natural experiment designed to induce students to choose and persist in targeted STEM majors. This collection of experiments holds potential to inform our understanding of the pathways students follow into, out of and through STEM fields, differences among students and fields in the structures of these pathways, the effects of different innovations on the process of STEM degree attainment, and especially how interventions support successful STEM degree completion.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE 1317206. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. https://sites.utexas.edu/pcrn/
High School and Beyond: Human Capital over the Life Cycle as a Foundation for Working Longer
Alfred P. Sloan - Grant Number 2012-10-27
2013-2019
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller; Co-Prinicipal Investigators: Sandra E. Black (University of Texas at Austin), Eric Grodsky (University of Wisconsin), and John Robert Warren (University of Minnesota)
This project is re-contacting and studying the lives of the nationally representative High School and Beyond Study (HS&B) sophomore sample members just before most turn 50 years old. Rich information about respondents' cognitive and non-cognitive skills and other aspects of their lives collected in the high school and postsecondary years will be linked to newly collected information about their current cognitive and non-cognitive skills, work, health, family roles, and retirement planning at midlife. The new database will be used to study a number of issues related to the consequences for midlife labor force participation of adolescent and early adult circumstances and characteristics. The project will increase our knowledge of the relationships among work, aging, and cognitive and non-cognitive functioning over the life cycle. The historical period occupied by the HSB cohort provides a unique opportunity to study the effects of labor market demand shocks (including the Great Recession) and technological change and computerization on employment patterns for different population subgroups. Re-contacting respondents will provide crucial proof-of-concept and baseline measures for future data collection as respondents' age. The new data infrastructure, composed of a robust database and a multidisciplinary community of users, will support cutting-edge research in a broad set of disciplines, from economics, sociology and demography to health and aging, family studies, education, organizational behavior, psychology, and even extending to more distal fields of genetics, medicine (general and disease specific), criminology and other areas that touch on labor force concerns among older workers.
http://sites.utexas.edu/hsb/
Geoscientist and Engineers in the Oil and Gas Industry
2011-2017
Prinicipal Investigators: Christine Williams and Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
This study investigates (1) whether women leave industry faster than men and if so (2) identify the mechanisms that contribute to their attrition. We hypothesize that women do leave major companies faster. They may also leave industry faster; however, it is also possible that they continue to work in industry but in sectors and jobs that are outside of the major companies. We hypothesize that structural factors within the companies and the industry as a whole are the primary reason for the differential attrition and pathways. These structural factors involve both (a) formal policy and (b) informal social relationships. The structural factors may directly impact attrition and pathways. It is also possible that even when structural circumstances are similar for men and women, they contribute to opportunity differently for men and women.
Feasibility Study for Development of Civic Engagement from Adolescence to Midlife
Spencer Foundation - Grant Number 201500075
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller
2014-2017
This study will assess the feasibility and utility of attaching recent voting records to the recently collected identifiers from the High School and Beyond Study (Midlife Follow-up) (HS&B) 2014 sophomore cohort.
http://sites.utexas.edu/hsb/
Education and the Transition to Adulthood
National Institute of Health - 5R01HD061551-02
2010–2016
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
PI of the subcontract: Dan Black (University of Chicago)
Co-Investigator: Robert A. Hummer (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Investigator: R. Kelly Raley (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Investigator: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
Project Director:Rupa Datta (University of Chicago)
Consultant: Eric Grodsky (University of Minnesota)
This project will add detailed information on postsecondary education for the National Longitudinal Study of Youth of 1997 (NLSY97) respondents, culled from transcripts and other administrative records of test scores and postsecondary enrollment histories. Postsecondary transcripts will be collected and coded according to a well-established taxonomy used by researchers, policy makers, and administrators alike. These newly collected data, plus a large number of variables that summarize and describe students' postsecondary experiences and outcomes will be made available as part of the publicly distributed NLS data set. The NLSY97 is the premier nationally representative longitudinal data set for studying the transition from high school to work and into adulthood. In several key domains (employment, schooling, marriage and cohabitation, government program participation, migration), the NLSY97 includes month-by-month status variables for all respondents. This postsecondary transcript study provides invaluable detailed chronological information about students’enrollment patterns across post-secondary institutions, the courses they took (including the content of the courses) and their performance in those courses. The data produced from this study will provide vital information about the complex interplay of family, education, work and health across the life course. This information is key to understanding the pathways through which education-based health disparities are produced. This large and complex study will involve two major phases and a multidisciplinaryresearch team. The firstphase involves the collection and coding of approximately 7,500 postsecondary transcripts from about 4,800 NLSY97 respondents. The second phase will produce constructed variables and data files for public dissemination. These constructed variables are essential to stimulate wide use of the postsecondary education data. In addition to producing public access data, investigators will conduct workshops in a number of settings and provide detailed documentation to introduce the data to multidisciplinary users in both research and applied settings, and encourage their use. NLSY 1997 Postsecondary Research Network.
Postsecondary Pathways into STEM for Students with Disabilities
National Science Foundation - HRD 1132028
2011-2016
Principal Investigator: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
This study will investigate contemporary pathways to STEM degree or certification completion, and the postsecondary institutional contexts that promote the success of students with disabilities. Increasing diversity in STEM fields has been a challenge, because the factors contributing to the low levels of STEM participation among students with disabilities are complex and rooted in academic preparation in high school and earlier. Using two nationally representative datasets including students both with and without disabilities, the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (2004-2009) (BPS), this study takes a longitudinal approach that begins by making connections between high school preparation and the transition into postsecondary education and/or work, as well as selection of a STEM major. High school preparation encompasses cumulative and progressive course-taking (math and science courses in particular), course grades and failures, standardized test scores, social-psychological qualities (educational expectations and STEM self-efficacy), and, finally, high school completion.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD 1132028. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Land of Plenty? Examining Disparities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Postsecondary Outcomes
National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship 2011-2014
Recipient: Evangeleen Pattison
Strikingly, there are no racial/ethnic disparities in who declares a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) major among students who attend postsecondary institutions (Riegle-Crumb & King 2010). Despite this, racial/ethnic minorities are much less likely than white and Asian students to graduate from college with a STEM degree (NSF 2004). These disparities are troubling on equity grounds but also problematic in terms of sustaining the country’s STEM labor force, given that underrepresented minorities will soon constitute the majority of the population. I will investigate what happens to underrepresented minorities who declare a STEM major in college but do not complete a STEM degree.Social integration promotes college persistence (Tinto 1993), yet is underdeveloped in STEM persistence literature. To close this gap, I will investigate how processes of social integration influence persistence in and completion of a STEM degree, with a critical eye towards diversity. The first dimension of social integration that I will examine is underrepresented STEM students’ relationships with STEM faculty and peers. Next, I will investigate the role of high school STEM preparation on these relationships to examine if less prepared students are marginalized. I will also explore if underrepresented STEM students seek social support outside of STEM, and how this affects subsequent STEM integration. Lastly, I will investigate how feelings of social integration differ across institutional contexts. This will allow me to explore issues of inclusion by examining if minority STEM students at predominately minority-serving institutions feel more socially integrated than similar students at predominately white-serving institutions. Investigating multiple dimensions of social integration will provide an illuminating view into the barriers faced by underrepresented STEM students.
Teaching Career Choices: Evaluation of Sally Ride Science
Sally Ride Science
2009–2013
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin) Co-PI: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
This project is an evaluation of the effect of a 3rd-8th grade teacher training academy program. The goal of the Sally Ride Science Training Academy is to impact teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge about science career possibilities for girls. Ultimately the program hopes to encourage more gender-neutral beliefs regarding science and science careers in students with the training given to the teachers. The goal for the research is to examine the impact of the academy on these target populations and evaluate the success of the program’s expected outcomes.
Feasibility Study of Dissemination of Knowledge from STEP Type 1 Projects
National Science Foundation
2011-2013
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
The goal of the NSF STEP program is to increase the number of undergraduate STEM degrees, particularly among underrepresented groups. The STEP Type 1 program funds projects at both baccalaureate and associate’s degree-granting institutions to implement strategies “aimed at adapting and implementing best practices” (NSF STEP Program Solicitation) to meet the STEP program goals. Our research will work with recently funded STEP Type 1 projects to create a model for the collection and dissemination of common data across STEP Type 1 grantees. By leveraging multiple projects with similar aims and overlapping strategies we will enhance the impact of each individual project and gain additional insights relevant to the broader researcher and practitioner communities from the set of projects. This project will produce a model for leveraging data and findings from Type 1 STEP projects to establish a feasibility model for best practices in coordination and dissemination of knowledge to the larger higher education research, policy and practice communities. In doing so, we will broaden the impact of the STEP program and articulate the strategies institutions of higher education can use to increase STEM degrees.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE 1141563. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Using O*Net to Investigate Sources of Educational and Racial Variation in Marriage
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
PI: R. Kelly Raley
Dates: 3/4/2011-2013
Educational and racial differences in a variety of health related outcomes are large and as yet unexplained. Work characteristics, such as stress, recognition, and autonomy, serve as under-explored mechanisms that may connect education and race to wide-ranging aspects of well being such as mental health, family stability, physical health, and mortality. The newly revamped Dictionary of Occupational Titles (now called O*NET), linked to a data source with measures of health-related outcomes, provides an opportunity to evaluate the utility of occupational characteristics for understanding the mechanisms underlying health disparities. As a test case, we propose to investigate the potential for work characteristics to explain educational and racial disparities in marriage and cohabitation by linking data from the O*NET, 2000 Census, and the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. First, this project will use these sources to create a data set describing work demands, rewards, and demographic composition that can be linked to the NLSY using 2002 census codes. Second, it will link these data to the NLSY to document racial and educational in occupational characteristics in early adulthood. Third, the project will investigate the association between occupational characteristics and women's union formation and whether attributes of occupations are linked to educational and/or racial disparities in marriage and cohabitation. Finally, after having refined our data set through the specific aims 1-3, we will make data set describing occupational demands, rewards, and demographic composition publicly available through the NLSY. This project will serve as a foundation for a larger study exploring the influence of men's and women's work characteristics on family formation and stability.
Beyond Blackboards: Integrated Methods for STEM Education and Workforce Development
National Science Foundation
2009–2013
PI: Richard Crawford (University of Texas at Austin - Department of Mechanical Engineering) Co-PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin - Department of Sociology) Co-PI: Anthony Petrosino (University of Texas at Austin - Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Math and Science Education)
The University of Texas (UT) Cockrell School of Engineering is joining with Skillpoint Alliance, a Central Texas education and workforce development agency, and Round Rock ISD, a rapidly growing district serving a diverse population of more than 40,000 students, to deploy an integrated approach to engaging middle school students, teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and caregivers in activities that improve awareness and understanding of a range of STEM career and college pathways. The project builds on the successful DTEACh program that provides teachers professional development in engineering education using design and empowers educators and caregivers to engage students in STEM activities that guide them toward considering careers in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The program comprises five essential steps: training teachers; providing after-school programs for students; training counselors, administrators and other educators; offering intensive summer camps for students; and reaching out to caregivers. The project supports teachers with multiple professional development opportunities and field experiences, coaching sessions with master teachers, support from UT engineering students and industry mentors, and numerous other resources. Evaluation of the program's impact on students depends not only on student-reported interest in STEM subjects and careers, but on assessment of student performance in STEM subjects and analysis of their high school course selections. Evaluation of the program's impact on teachers focuses on an assessment of participants' curricula and pedagogy and impact on teacher networks. The project produces research tools and research findings that build the knowledge base about approaches, models, and interventions with middle school students from underrepresented and economically-disadvantaged populations and their teachers - the population most likely to increase United States capacity in the STEM workforce, including ICT fields.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Students with Learning Disabilities: STEM Pathways in the Social Context
National Science Foundation
2009-2012
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)(HRD 0834177)
PI: Rebecca M. Callahan (University of Texas at Austin) (HRD 0965444)
Improving young adults' preparation to enter into STEM fields is crucial for the economic well-being of our nation; students with learning disabilities face a special set of social and academic needs in their pathways towards STEM preparation. A rich body of literature focuses on the STEM preparation of adolescents as a whole, however we know far less about the processes and pathways of students with learning disabilities. Focusing on college preparatory STEM achievement outcomes, we explore the effects of high school context, social and academic processes, as well as variations by demographic subgroup (racial, ethnic and linguistic minority, gender, class) among the population of students with learning disabilities. The need to increase diversity in participation in STEM fields can be addressed by tapping in to traditionally underrepresented groups, such as students with learning disabilities who may possess many talents yet also face unique barriers.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number HRD 0834177. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Feasibility Study of a Follow-up Study of the High School and Beyond (HSB) Respondents
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
2012
Principal Investigators: Chandra Muller and Sandra Black (University of Texas)
This study will position the research team to develop a plan and priorities for a larger follow-up of HSB respondents. The knowledge gained from the larger follow up of HSB sample members will help to articulate the mechanisms that produce the strong relationships among social origins, noncognitive skills, education and work, retirement and quality of life in later life. A clear understanding of these mechanisms will enhance our capacity to identify policy levers and design policies to (1) promote working longer, (2) improve the quality of work life for those 50 years of age and older, and (3) identify important sources of heterogeneity in the associations between education, work and later life outcomes.
STEM in the New Millennium: Preparation, Pathways and Diversity
National Science Foundation (# 0757018)
2008–2011
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: R Kelly Raley (University of Texas at Austin)
This study will use multiple contemporary longitudinal, nationally representative datasets to study the educational pathways into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers, beginning in high school and before and extending into early adult careers. We argue that there are several factors that have not been previously adequately addressed in the literature on STEM pathways. First, high school indicators of STEM achievement and the convergence of these indicators may be crucial for understanding success in higher education and in the labor force. Further, understanding how the contexts of postsecondary institutions themselves foster students’ persistence and achievement in STEM as well as an accumulation of STEM knowledge and skills independent of degrees earned are key components of our study. Finally, we focus on the connection between STEM education and the labor force, broadening the usual treatment of this pathway as a linear relationship between degree attainment and entry into a STEM occupation, and focusing on labor force participation in non-STEM occupations that may require STEM literacy. Our study will provide insights into increasing the participation and success of all college students in the STEM fields that are of value to both policymakers and postsecondary institutions.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under gratn 0757018. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
UT Graduate School Climate Survey
University of Texas Graduate School
2009–2010
PI: Chandra Muller (The University of Texas at Austin)
The Roles of Language and Education in Immigrant Adolescents’ Civic Integration during the Transition to Adulthood
Russell Sage Foundation ( RSF Project #: 88-06-12 )
2006-2009
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: Rebecca M. Callahan (University of Texas at Austin)
This study aims to investigate 1) how schools facilitate the integration of immigrant youth into civic society, through exposure to curricular and extracurricular opportunities and through the structuring of informal social opportunities, and what the role of language has in this process; 2) how school contexts or communities-in particular their composition, administrative organization and policies-contribute to the civic engagement of adolescents, and what the role of language has in this process, and 3) how these academic and social experiences during high school influence language use and, in turn, civic integration in early adulthood, taking into account engagement with other institutions such as postsecondary education, work, church, and family formation. It is expected that the interplay of adolescent and young adult language with high school experiences, and the balance of school with family and community in early adulthood, will shape how immigrants engage in civic activity and identify linguistically and socially, as young adults. These pathways may differ depending on the socioeconomic and cultural circumstances of assimilation.
Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIHCD)( 1 R01 HD040428-01 )
National Science Foundation
2006-2009
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI:R. Kelly Raley (The University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI:Kenneth A. Frank (Michigan State University)
Co-PI:Toni Falbo (The University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI:Kathryn S. Schiller (University at Albany, State University of New York)
This project will collect high school transcripts for the Wave III sample members of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). These newly collected data, plus a large number of variables that summarize and describe the transcripts, will be made part of the publicly distributed Add Health data set. Add Health was designed to explore adolescents’ health behaviors, with an emphasis on the influence of social context that includes families, peers, neighborhoods and school, but it has limited measures of academic activities and achievement. Transcript data are technically challenging to analyze, but they can lead to an understanding of students’ academic experiences, as well as opportunity and stratification. This transcript study will provide rich new data for the study of academic achievement and opportunity, and it will enhance the utility of the current Add Health data set. This is a large and complex project with two major phases and an interdisciplinary research team, overseen by an Advisory Board. The first phase involves the collection and coding of high school transcripts and associated data for approximately 18,700 Wave III Add Health sample members, plus a sample of 2,000 of their partners. Westat, an experienced data collection firm, will conduct the data collection and initial coding. Special attention will be paid to ensuring respondent and school security. The second phase of the project, conducted at The University of Texas, involves the construction of additional variables to measure educational stratification and achievement, adapted for the Add Health design. These additional variables are essential to stimulate wide use of the transcript data, as well as to support initial analyses. Consistent with the emphasis of Add Health on social context, the variables will be useful for multilevel analyses. Westat coded measures will include coursework, standardized test scores and attendance. UT will construct measures of academic achievement (including course sequence status and grades), the course taking context, school transitions, and school context. In addition to producing public access data, the investigators will produce extensive documentation about the data and the procedures used to produce them. They will conduct public workshops in a number of settings to introduce the data to users and encourage their use. They will also publish a variety of initial analyses on diverse topics.
Gender Differences in Science and Math: Diversity and the Role of Social Context
National Science Foundation ( HRD-0523046 )
2005–2008
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas at Austin)
This project is studying the effects of social contexts-in the school and its community, and in the more immediate social settings within the school such as courses and friendships-on girls' and boys' choices of science and math courses, performance in those courses, and pursuit of science, technology, engineering, math, and teaching majors in college, analyzing two related datasets: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and the new Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Transcript Study (AHAA), the education component to the original Add Health. The researchers will also determine whether gendered choices and performance in science and math are influenced by the broader social context between schools -including the schools' academic and informal climate and the surrounding community, and whether the effects of this broader social context across schools differ among students according to their (a) race and ethnicity, b) social class and (c) immigrant generational status.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Race and School Contexts of Adolescent Social Relations
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( R03 HD047331-01)
2005-2007
PI: R. Kelly Raley (University of Texas at Austin)
Adolescents’ Body Weight and Perception in the Social Context of Schools
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
2005-2008
Recipient: Anna S. Mueller
Adolescent Development and the Social Organizations of Schools, Pilot Study
William T. Grant Foundation
2005
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
PI: Jacquelynne Eccles (University of Michigan)
Science Achievement and Health Behavior: High School Curriculum, Social Context, and Opportunity to Learn
National Science Foundation ( REC-0126167 )
2001-2005
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: Pedro Reyes (University of Texas at Austin)
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Building Social Capital at School
Spencer Foundation, Collaborative Projects Initiative
2001-2002
Co-Investigator: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Investigator: Kenneth Frank (Michigan State University)
Houston Annenberg Challenge Research and Evaluation Study
1999-2002
PI: Pedro Reyes (University of Texas at Austin)
Co-PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)
The Effects of Housing and Community on Parental Involvement in Education
Hogg Foundation
1997-1999
PI: Chandra Muller (University of Texas at Austin)