Upper secondary education shapes gender segregation in higher education and the labor market. This study shows gendered elective course enrollment patterns in Chilean upper secondary education across seven subjects, examines their consistency across socioeconomic contexts, and identifies school-level moderators. Using national administrative data…

Students' high school decisions will always impact efforts to achieve gender parity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at the university level and beyond. Without a comprehensive understanding of gendered disparities in high school course selection, it will be impossible to close completely the gender gap in many STEM…

The purposes of this study were to determine whether the departments that high school students consider choosing for their university education belong to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields or not and to reveal the relationship between their choice and gender, grade, and type of institution. The research was conducted…

This report examines the effects of taking math in 12th grade on several academic outcomes, including high school grade point average, A-G course completion, college enrollment, and college persistence. We also investigate whether particular types of math courses (for example, Calculus or Statistics) are especially beneficial for students'…

This report examines the impact of taking a math course in twelfth grade on L.A. Unified students' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college course taking and academic achievement. We also investigate whether particular types of math courses (for example, Calculus or Statistics) are especially beneficial for students' postsecondary…

Addressing the participation rates in senior secondary mathematics courses in Australian schools remains a critically important issue. In this paper, the authors report on quantitative findings from a study in which all year 11 and year 12 (aged 17-18 years) Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranking (ATAR) students in Western Australia were invited…

In this report, the authors explore the patterns in mathematics course-taking among California public high school seniors. They describe what courses students are enrolled in and how course participation varies by key student characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and performance level on the state's 11th grade assessments.…

In the State of Queensland in Australia, Years 11 and 12 students can opt to study calculus based or non-calculus based mathematics. Calculus based mathematics subjects are a prerequisite for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which has been identified as critically important for current and future productivity by the…

In this article, we use administrative data from three cohorts of North Carolina public high school students to examine the effects of within-school segregation on the propensity of academically eligible black high school students to take advanced math courses. Our identification strategy takes advantage of cohort-to-cohort variation in the share…

This study investigates factors that influenced the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subject enrolment decisions of Year 12 students in Australia. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to develop a model using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data…

With science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) heralded as pivotal to Australia's future prosperity, declining participation in Year 12 mathematics and science has attracted nationwide concern. While the national statistics certainly provide clear evidence of declining enrolments and the underrepresentation of females in STEM, we…

School subjects divided into compulsory and elective courses. Compulsory courses are the basic courses that students must take to graduate, while elective courses give freedom for students. In Turkey, Biology courses taught as compulsory under the required courses in high schools. But, it is also instructed as elective courses called…

In 2016, the Utah State Board of Regents adopted a 10-year strategic plan, including two specific goals related to students' participation in and completion of higher education: first, that 75% of Utah's 12th graders would enroll in post-secondary education within five years of high school graduation by the year 2025; and, second, that degree…

The study examines science-related course choices of high-school students in the culturally diverse schools of the province of British Columbia, Canada. The analysis employs K-12 provincial data and includes over 44,000 students born in 1990 who graduated from high school by 2009. The research sample reflects the presence of about 27% of students…

Increasing the number of students who study mathematics once it is no longer compulsory remains a priority for England. A longitudinal cohort from England (1085 students) was surveyed at Years 10 and 12. Students' self-beliefs of ability influenced their GCSE mathematics grades and their intended and actual mathematics subject-choices; the degree…