At Florida International University, as at many institutions, STEM major attrition is an ongoing issue. Research has provided a number of reasons why students choose to leave their STEM majors, such as loss of interest in the subject, perpetuated racial/ethnic stereotypes, or difficulty of the material. At the same time, research has also shown a disconnect between the demand for STEM graduates to meet the present and future needs of the workforce and the supply of STEM graduates. Fixing the supply/demand problem requires a better understanding of how to retain our majors. To obtain insight into why chemistry/biochemistry students leave, we interviewed currently enrolled students at all levels who switched out of their major. Of notable interest to us were those that switched out of STEM completely. We will discuss students’ personal and environmental reasons for leaving their major and how a chemistry department may leverage these factors in programming designed to improve the retention of its chemistry majors.

Flipping the switch: Insights gained on how to retain chemistry majors

2019 Spring National Meeting

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