Inquiry Process Summary: January - July 2019

1. Asking questions
2. Identifying problems/challenges/equity gaps
3. Collecting and interpreting data
4. Creating and testing hypotheses
5. Evaluation: assessing our efforts
6. Reflection: reading and discussion throughout the process

Major Findings

1. Inequities exist in who completes what at PCC:
   • White male and female students have many paths to completing an outcome (a certificate or degree or transfer).
   • Similar to White students, Asian female students tend to change majors often and have different avenues to completion.
   • The most common outcome for Latinx students is not completing. Latinos have a very narrow path to completion, while Latinas have more pathways to completion.
   • The most common outcome among Black male and female students is leaving the college.
2. Making a decision about a major and career path requires navigating a dynamic and shifting labor market, a complex ecosystem of postsecondary credentials, and various contextual and structural affordances, barriers, and constraints.
3. This complexity was confounded by a lack of labor market knowledge and knowhow; sociopolitical barriers and previous schooling experiences; efforts to balance peers, family obligations, and work; and experiences in classes, especially math and science, that impacted their self-efficacy and outcome expectations.

Why did students change their majors and career paths?

Implications

Students need: (a) access to labor market knowledge and knowhow; (b) differentiated career guidance and career exploration opportunities; (c) career guidance that extends into the classroom and is contextualized in disciplinary learning; (d) opportunities to explore and cultivate their sociopolitical development across career fields; (e) career guidance focused on developing their career adaptability; and (f) emotional and psychological support to navigate the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty they report feeling throughout their major choices and transitions, and career development and decision-making processes.

Using Data to Take Action

Problem Statement:

PCC does not provide a customized student experience through program of study that embeds academic and career supports.

Presentation of Data and Findings:

STEM faculty, STEM Career Community, Student Affairs Managers.

Strategies for the 2019-20 Academic Year

In the classroom:

• Just-in-time services
• Just-in-time teaching

Differentiated career services:

• Career undecidedness survey
• Exit survey
• Time diaries