College major peer effects and attrition from the sciences

Table 8 Determinants of college outcomes of intended science majors w/different peer group ability measures

Measure of peer ability	Graduated in sciences	Final major science	Cumulative GPA	Graduated	Time to degree
HS GPA:
Intended STEM majors	−0.144**	−0.0905	−0.122**	−0.0977***	0.499***
	[0.0443]	[0.0500]	[0.0445]	[0.0124]	[0.138]
Intended non-STEM Majors	0.142***	0.0917*	0.0737	0.0874***	−0.256
	[0.0364]	[0.0435]	[0.0599]	[0.0152]	[0.201]
Combined SAT Score:
Intended STEM majors	−0.179***	−0.0871*	−0.142**	−0.145***	0.292**
	[0.0384]	[0.0425]	[0.0463]	[0.0198]	[0.0948]
Intended non-STEM majors	0.193***	0.124**	0.0347	0.111***	−0.391***
	[0.0357]	[0.0408]	[0.0313]	[0.0194]	[0.100]
Math SAT Score:
Intended STEM majors	−0.227***	−0.143**	−0.129	−0.132***	0.391*
	[0.0454]	[0.0516]	[0.0822]	[0.0243]	[0.170]
Intended non-STEM majors	0.244***	0.180**	0.0111	0.0918**	−0.437*
	[0.0478]	[0.0566]	[0.0743]	[0.0313]	[0.220]
Verbal SAT Score:
Intended STEM majors	−0.115***	−0.0343	−0.125***	−0.120***	0.147
	[0.0294]	[0.0272]	[0.0285]	[0.0171]	[0.0906]
Intended non-STEM majors	0.134***	0.0743**	0.0380**	0.0947***	−0.272***
	[0.0260]	[0.0262]	[0.0156]	[0.0129]	[0.0518]

Notes: Each of the peer group ability definition groupings and each column contains coefficient estimates from separate regressions. All peer measures are standardized. Each regression also contains controls for race/ethnicity, SAT I math and verbal scores, 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, *p < 0.1, based on a t-distribution with 5 d.f.