30355
ASD in STEM: Major Selection and Grades in Higher Education
Both public stereotypes and “systematizing” theories of autism suggest that students with autism are particularly well-suited for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields. It is presumed that autistic students are both drawn to and successful in these fields because the characteristics of these fields - linear, logical, computations, and often with clear “right” answers - are consistent with the way in which an autistic brain processes information. Indeed, emerging evidence (particularly using data from the NLTS2 dataset) suggests that postsecondary students with autism disproportionately pursue STEM-related degrees and successfully transition from 2-year to 4-year institutions more readily than do their non-STEM peers. However, to date, no published studies have compared the relationship between autism and academic performance in STEM vs. non-STEM fields.
Objectives:
This study addresses two overarching research questions: 1) Do college students with autism-related characteristics disproportionately pursue majors in the STEM fields? 2) Do students with autism-related characteristics have better academic performance (GPA) in STEM fields than they do in other fields of study. The analyses for both questions also examine whether the answers to either of the two research questions varies across students’ year in school (e.g., sophomore, senior).
Methods: This study uses 7 variables drawn from a sample of 812 undergraduate students in United States. Students’ institutional records provided information on each students’ major course of study, GPA, SAT score, race/ethnicity, gender, and year in school. Students’ autism related characteristics were measured via a continuous variable derived from responses to the short form of the Autism Quotient assessment instrument. Any missing data were augmented through Multiple Imputation (MI) or Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) procedures. Analyses presented in this paper include descriptive statistics, comparison of means, correlations, and structural equation models (SEM), and included statistical controls for student gender, race/ethnicity, and SAT scores.
Results:
Three results warrant particular attention. First, our findings support the conclusions of other studies that autistic students are drawn to STEM fields. Second, overall results suggest that students’ major program of study has only minimal effects on the relationship between students’ autism-related characteristics and their GPA; throughout the first three years of coursework, students with similar degrees of autism-related characteristics perform similarly (in terms of GPA) regardless of their major program of study. Third, in the final year of undergraduate studies, students with higher levels of autism-related characteristics in non-STEM majors (e.g., humanities, social sciences) begin to experience lower GPAs than their counterparts in STEM fields.
Conclusions:
The study suggests that students with autism are disproportionately pursuing STEM related degrees, apparently with good reason. The results demonstrate that these students may find more academic success in STEM fields than in other fields of study, especially as they approach completion of their undergraduate degree. These findings related to GPA are particularly important for life-long outcomes because employers and graduate schools consider GPA as one of the primary indicators of graduates’ potential for future success.