College major peer effects and attrition from the sciences

Table 5 Determinants of college outcomes of intended science majors w/own ability-peer ability interactions

Variables	Graduated in sciences	Final major science	Cumulative GPA	Graduated	Time to degree
Index of peer ability of STEM majors	−0.211***	−0.120**	−0.163***	−0.149***	0.449**
	[0.0387]	[0.0448]	[0.0409]	[0.0172]	[0.153]
Own math SAT score	0.112***	0.110***	0.0827***	0.0154***	−0.0946***
	[0.00372]	[0.00538]	[0.00477]	[0.00224]	[0.0240]
STEM major peer ability x	0.0204***	0.0208**	0.00551	−0.000544	−0.0344
Own math score	[0.00442]	[0.00768]	[0.00500]	[0.00226]	[0.0179]
Index of peer ability of non-STEM majors	0.224***	0.150**	0.0530	0.121***	−0.464**
	[0.0349]	[0.0471]	[0.0312]	[0.0154]	[0.130]
Own verbal SAT score	−0.0247***	−0.0275***	0.0610***	−0.00105	−0.0330**
	[0.00250]	[0.00362]	[0.00223]	[0.00375]	[0.0105]
Non-STEM major peer ability x	−0.00426	−0.00541	0.00373**	7.18e-05	−0.00993
Own verbal score	[0.00302]	[0.00296]	[0.00145]	[0.00325]	[0.0115]
Marginal effect of 1 SD increase in ability
of other intended science majors:
Own math SAT score = 550	−0.223***	−0.132**	−0.167***	−0.149***	0.469**
	[0.0386]	[0.0453]	[0.0414]	[0.0170]	[0.147]
Own math SAT score = 650	−0.202***	−0.110**	−0.161***	−0.149***	0.434**
	[0.0388]	[0.0446]	[0.0406]	[0.0174]	[0.158]
Observations	84,466	84,466	83,683	84,466	67,593
R-squared	0.306	0.289	0.435	0.306	0.317

Notes: Each column contains coefficient estimates from separate regressions. Each regression also contains controls for race/ethnicity, UC-adjusted high school GPA, parental education, family income by cohort, college, college selectivity tier by cohort, and UC application-admission pattern fixed effects that account for the intended major listed on each application. Robust standard errors, clustered by campus, are reported in brackets. ***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, based on a t-distribution with 5 d.f.