Incentivizing STEM participation: Evidence from the SMART Grant Program.

The U.S. National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant program provided up to $8000 to high‐achieving, low‐income undergraduates majoring in STEM fields. We evaluate the effects of this financial incentive on college graduates' major fields and subsequent STEM workforce rete...

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Published in:Southern Economic Journal Vol. 89; no. 2; pp. 373 - 406
Main Authors: Blume‐Kohout, Margaret E., Scott, Jacob P.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2022
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      tig:
        atl: Incentivizing STEM participation: Evidence from the SMART Grant Program.
      aug:
        au:
          Blume‐Kohout, Margaret E.
          Scott, Jacob P.
        affil:
          Department of Economics, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg Pennsylvania,, USA
          Department of Economics, Colgate University, New York Hamilton,, USA
          Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, USA
      su:
        College graduates
        Participation
        Incentive (Psychology)
        Monetary incentives
        College majors
      sug:
        subj:
          College graduates
          Participation
          Incentive (Psychology)
          Monetary incentives
          College majors
      keyword:
        financial aid
        higher education
        post‐college employment
        STEM degrees
        workforce
        financial aid
        higher education
        post‐college employment
        STEM degrees
        workforce
      ab: The U.S. National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant program provided up to $8000 to high‐achieving, low‐income undergraduates majoring in STEM fields. We evaluate the effects of this financial incentive on college graduates' major fields and subsequent STEM workforce retention using nationally‐representative survey data and a difference‐in‐differences quasi‐experimental approach. The SMART Grant program significantly increased the probability that first‐generation college graduates majored in STEM, by about 7 percentage points. However, this increase is almost entirely offset by affected STEM graduates' significantly lower STEM workforce retention. These program effects also appear to be concentrated among students whose parents had some college experience rather than those who were first in their families to attend college.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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