High rates of attrition exist among college students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, especially among women and minorities. This paper seeks to examine factors that influence the decision to persist in STEM majors. I use data from the 2000 cohort at all public 4-year universities in the State of Ohio to match students to the instructor and classmates of each course. The objective is to test the hypothesis that sharing racial and gender characteristics with instructors of STEM courses increases the probability of persisting towards a STEM degree. Results indicate that Black students are significantly more likely to persist in a STEM major when they have more black instructors in STEM courses. There is no significant effect on persistence for Female students who have more female instructors. Effect of female instructors on female students - Increase in grades in intro courses (Carrell et al, 2009) - [Identification - Random assignment] - Small increase in grades in first semester (Hoffman & Oreopoulos, 2007) - [Identification – Exogenous course selection in 1 st semester] - Mixed Results for additional credit hours taken (Bettinger & Long, 2005) - [Identification - Instrument with deviation from steady state of faculty gender composition Effect of minority instructors on minority students - No studies for college students - Positive effect on academic performance in elementary school (Dee, 2005) Having instructors with similar racial and gender characteristics increases persistence in STEM fields All Public 4-year Universities in Ohio (13 in total) entering cohort, tracked for 6 years -Transcript, Enrollment, and Faculty Files -Match students and faculty to each course Over ½ of initial STEM majors do not receive a degree in a STEM field Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Pipeline in College Abstract Literature Review Hypothesis Data Methods Persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Fields: Do Instructors Matter? Joshua Price Cornell University Estimate Linear Probability Model Y =1 if persist in STEM field after 1 st Year X is vector of student characteristics (race, gender, ACT score) F is vector of faculty characteristics of first term courses (race, gender, rank, tenure-status) C is the number of STEM and non-STEM courses taken the first term X*F is the racial and gender match between the student and instructor in STEM and Non- STEM courses λ is institutional fixed effects How to overcome self selection into courses - Rely on exogeneity of 1 st semester (Similar to Hoffman & Oreopoulos, 2009) - Conditional on standardized test score, Black students are equally as likely as white students to persist past the 1 st year in a STEM field - Probability of persistence significantly increases when Black students have more of their STEM courses taught by a Black instructor - No effect for Female students who have more Female instructors in STEM courses Conclusion Persistence by Initial Major Initial STEM MajorsInitial Non-STEM Majors Outcome After 1 st Year Outcome After 2 nd Year Faculty Characteristics Persistence in STEM Major by Race and Gender Fraction who persist in STEM major after Year 1 Linear Probability Estimation of Persistence Results Persistence in STEM major After 1 st Year (Race)Persistence in STEM major After 1 st Year (Gender) Enter the pipeline prior to college STEM occupation or graduate degree in STEM field