For minority college students, STEM degrees pay big

Study finds degrees in science, technology, engineering and math associated with 25 to 50 percent higher earnings; Latino college grads are highest earners

2012-06-22

(Press-News.org) Minority college students who major in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – earn at least 25 percent more than their peers who study humanities or education, according to the results of a new study.

And those who took jobs related to their STEM degrees earned at least 50 percent more than their classmates who majored in humanities or education fields.

Published in the June issue of Research in Higher Education, the study followed more than 1,000 Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and black students over nine years. The students were scholarship applicants for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which awards grants to highly motivated, low-income minority students.

While minority groups continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields, the study's researchers believe this will change if students understand how much more money can be earned in those fields.

"The premiums for majoring in STEM fields are huge," said lead author Tatiana Melguizo, associate professor of education with the USC Rossier School of Education. "We need to educate students that if they get a job in a STEM-related occupation, they have an even higher earning premium. Otherwise, students aren't reaping the economic benefit of all the hard work they went through as undergrads."

Overall, Latinos reported the highest average earnings after college - $42,180 annually - relative to the other minority groups. Black students reported earning $35,900 and Asian Pacific Islanders earned $40,261 (data in 2006 dollars).

Latinos majoring in STEM fields also reported the highest earnings among the groups studied: an average of $56,875 per year, higher than the reported average salaries of $39,365 for blacks and $47,530 for Asian Pacific Islanders.

The study's authors said more research must be done to determine whether these discrepancies are attributable to different career preferences among racial/ethnic groups or employers' hiring decisions, as well as the role colleges and universities play in the career and occupational development of minority students.

"Among the high achieving minority students we studied, Latinos not only reported the highest annual earnings overall, but also reported the highest annual earnings among STEM majors," said study co-author Gregory Wolniak, a senior research scientist at the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. "Preliminary findings suggest this may partially be due to Latino students' ability to find jobs related to their major. These findings are encouraging signs that strengthening the pipeline of underrepresented students into STEM careers offers a viable solution to our nation's growing competitiveness problem in engineering and science fields."

###Funding for the study was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

About the USC Rossier School of Education

The USC Rossier School of Education (ross-EAR) is one of the world's premier centers for the study of urban education. In addition to the school's transformational research and partnerships, Rossier also prepares teachers and educational leaders who are committed to improving urban education locally, nationally and globally.

About NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research organization headquartered in downtown Chicago with additional offices on the UChicago campus, the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Atlanta and Boston. With clients throughout the world, NORC collaborates with government agencies, foundations, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and businesses to provide data and analysis that support informed decision-making in key areas including health, education, economics, crime, justice, energy, security and the environment. NORC's 70 years of leadership and experience in data collection, analysis and dissemination—coupled with deep subject matter expertise—provides information and analysis that form the foundation for effective solutions.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Eurostar Becomes the Official Carrier of the French Paralympic Team

2012-06-22

Eurostar, the official international rail provider of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has announced details of a new partnership with the French National Paralympic Committee, which will see the high-speed rail operator proudly carry the French Paralympic team to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Over the summer, Eurostar will carry the majority of the French Paralympians including the blind football, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball teams to London on a specially chartered service on the 25 August and then again on their celebratory, homecoming ...

New Novel Inspired by Mary Magdalene, Mind Control, Tori Amos

2012-06-22

Sometimes only a child has the strength to face reality. In Mary and the Invisible Scaffolding, the new novel by author David Michael Conner, eight-year-old Mary's life in Cactus, Nevada comes to an abrupt end when her mother tears her from bed in the middle of the night and relocates them to lush, strange New Orleans. Bewildered, Mary must adapt to a new world with only her memories to guide her. "Initially, Mary was a short story inspired by the Tori Amos song 'Marys of the Sea (Les Saintes Maries de la Mer),'" said Conner. The Amos song is about the theory ...

Making bad worse for expectant mothers

2012-06-22

Some Norwegian women with birth anxiety face additional trauma in their meeting with the country's health service, according to research carried out in Stavanger. The Cesarean section rate is rising in most developed countries and many pregnant women around the world suffer from a fear of childbirth. In Norway, birth anxiety affects one in five pregnant women and can prompt some to demand a Caesarean delivery. But the question is how afraid a woman must be before her wishes are heard. Unlike many other countries, Norway does not give women an automatic right to a Caesarean ...

Danish scientists detect new immune alert signal

2012-06-22

Researchers from Aarhus University have now located the place in the human body where the earliest virus alert signal triggers the human immune system. They have also discovered a new alarm signal, which is activated at the very first sign of a virus attack. The groundbreaking finding has just been published in the highly esteemed scientific journal Nature Immunology. "It may turn out that patients suffering from frequent infections actually have problems with activating the mechanism that we have now detected," says Søren Riis Paludan, professor of immunology and virology ...

Research finds Stonehenge was monument marking unification of Britain

2012-06-22

After 10 years of archaeological investigations, researchers have concluded that Stonehenge was built as a monument to unify the peoples of Britain, after a long period of conflict and regional difference between eastern and western Britain. Its stones are thought to have symbolized the ancestors of different groups of earliest farming communities in Britain, with some stones coming from southern England and others from west Wales. The teams, from the universities of Sheffield, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and University College London, all working on the Stonehenge ...

South African daffodils may be a future cure for depression

2012-06-22

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have previously documented that substances from the South African plant species Crinum and Cyrtanthus – akin to snowdrops and daffodils – have an effect on the mechanisms in the brain that are involved in depression. This research has now yielded further results, since a team based at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences has recently shown how several South African daffodils contain plant compounds whose characteristics enable them to negotiate the defensive blood-brain barrier that is a key challenge in all new drug development. "Several ...

Maths tells us when to be more alert on the roads

2012-06-22

Technicians from Madrid City Council and a team of Pole and Spanish researchers have analysed the density and intensity of traffic on Madrid's M30 motorway (Spain) throughout the day. By applying mathematical algorithms, they have verified that drivers should pay more attention to the road between 6pm and 8pm to avoid accidents. Detection devices installed by the Department of Traffic Technologies of Madrid City Council on the M30 motorway and its access roads were used to conduct a scientific study. Researchers from SICE, the traffic management company in charge of ...

Michael Edelstein to Lead Licensing Practice at The Marketing Store

2012-06-22

The Marketing Store Worldwide, one of the world's largest privately held global brand activation agencies, announced today that Michael Edelstein has joined the agency as vice president, director of brand partnerships. Edelstein joins The Marketing Store from Learning Curve Brands, Inc where he was vice president, Preschool division. Edelstein will be based at The Marketing Store's Chicago office where he brings his licensing and partnership expertise to brand activations that The Marketing Store produces for its leading CPG (consumer packaged goods) and QSR (quick ...

Higher quality of life seen among regular moderate drinkers than among abstainers

2012-06-22

Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,404 community-dwelling Canadians ages 50 and older at baseline (1994/1995) was used to estimate the effects of alcohol drinking patterns on quality of life when subjects were aged =50 years and after a follow-up period. Health-related quality of life was assessed with the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3). The authors report that most participants showed stable alcohol-consumption patterns over 6 years. Detailed information was available on the participants alcohol consumption. Moderate drinkers were defined as ...

iResumed Video Resumes-- The New Way to Present to Your Future Employer

2012-06-22

iResumed.com announces the launch of their online web-site, providing job-seekers the ability to link a video to their resumes, and employers with the ability to screen job candidates more effectively. The Video resume site provides a bridge between the traditional resume of the past and the video resume of the future by making them both work together. "Video resumes have received a lot of consideration but have provided little value to the employer," explains Mike Mead, President, and Founder of iResumed.com. "Besides seeing what someone looks like and ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

How rice plants tell head from toe during early growth

Scientists design solar-responsive biochar that accelerates environmental cleanup

Construction of a localized immune niche via supramolecular hydrogel vaccine to elicit durable and enhanced immunity against infectious diseases

Deep learning-based discovery of tetrahydrocarbazoles as broad-spectrum antitumor agents and click-activated strategy for targeted cancer therapy

DHL-11, a novel prieurianin-type limonoid isolated from Munronia henryi, targeting IMPDH2 to inhibit triple-negative breast cancer

Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors and RIPK1 inhibitors with synergistic antiviral efficacy in a mouse COVID-19 model

Neg-entropy is the true drug target for chronic diseases

Oxygen-boosted dual-section microneedle patch for enhanced drug penetration and improved photodynamic and anti-inflammatory therapy in psoriasis

Early TB treatment reduced deaths from sepsis among people with HIV

Palmitoylation of Tfr1 enhances platelet ferroptosis and liver injury in heat stroke

Structure-guided design of picomolar-level macrocyclic TRPC5 channel inhibitors with antidepressant activity

Therapeutic drug monitoring of biologics in inflammatory bowel disease: An evidence-based multidisciplinary guidelines

New global review reveals integrating finance, technology, and governance is key to equitable climate action

New study reveals cyanobacteria may help spread antibiotic resistance in estuarine ecosystems

Around the world, children’s cooperative behaviors and norms converge toward community-specific norms in middle childhood, Boston College researchers report