STEM Degrees and Military Service: An Intersectional Analysis

• Author: Sela R. Harcey,Christina R. Steidl,Regina Werum
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211022999
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211022999

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(4) 780 –802

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211022999

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Article

STEM Degrees and Military

Service: An Intersectional

Analysis

Sela R. Harcey

1

, Christina R. Steidl

2

, and Regina Werum

1

Abstract

Given that the U.S. military uses science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)

exposure as a key recruitment tool, one should expect that military service is as-

sociated with STEM outcomes. While research demonstrates this pattern for women

veterans, we know little about racialized and intersectional patterns. This article uses

the American Community Survey data (2014–2018) to examine the association between

military service, race/ethnicity, and gender to STEM degrees earned. We f‌ind that

military service operates contingently: White men’s plus white, Hispanic, and

multiracial/other women’s predicted probability of earning a STEM degree increases

with military service. In contrast, for other minority groups, military service is not

associated with a higher predicted probability of earning a STEM degree. Indeed, for

groups typically overrepresented in STEM f‌ields (i.e., Asian veterans), a negative as-

sociation exists. These f‌indings inform extant research on the long-term impact of

military service on civilian reintegration, including educational and occupational

outcomes.

Keywords

science, technology, engineering, and math, military, race, education, gender, veterans

1

Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

2

Department of Sociology, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Sela R. Harcey, Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 711 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE

68588, USA.

Email: sharcey@huskers.unl.edu

Harcey et al. 781

STEM Degrees and Military

Service: An Intersectional

Analysis

Sela R. Harcey

1

, Christina R. Steidl

2

, and Regina Werum

1

Abstract

Given that the U.S. military uses science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)

exposure as a key recruitment tool, one should expect that military service is as-

sociated with STEM outcomes. While research demonstrates this pattern for women

veterans, we know little about racialized and intersectional patterns. This article uses

the American Community Survey data (2014–2018) to examine the association between

military service, race/ethnicity, and gender to STEM degrees earned. We f‌ind that

military service operates contingently: White men’s plus white, Hispanic, and

multiracial/other women’s predicted probability of earning a STEM degree increases

with military service. In contrast, for other minority groups, military service is not

associated with a higher predicted probability of earning a STEM degree. Indeed, for

groups typically overrepresented in STEM f‌ields (i.e., Asian veterans), a negative as-

sociation exists. These f‌indings inform extant research on the long-term impact of

military service on civilian reintegration, including educational and occupational

outcomes.

Keywords

science, technology, engineering, and math, military, race, education, gender, veterans

1

Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

2

Department of Sociology, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Sela R. Harcey, Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 711 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE

68588, USA.

Email: sharcey@huskers.unl.edu

Introduction

Vigorous public debate has led to policy interventions and programs designed to recruit

and retain a more demographically diverse science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM) workforce (Eddy & Brownell, 2016;Funk & Parker, 2018;Lim

et al., 2013;NAS, 2007;NRC, 2006). Relatedly, research has focused on the tra-

jectories by which individuals enter, move through, and exit the STEM pipeline. Most

of this research has focused on gender as the strongest demographic predictor. It

consistently shows women lagging in STEM degrees earned overall (Dickson, 2010;

Hanson, 2013;Riegle-Crumb & Morton, 2017;Speer, 2017), though some f‌ields are

female-dominated (see Weeden et al., 2017). Additionally,research on racial disparities

has typically found that Asians are overrepresented, while African Americans and

Latino/as are underrepresented in STEM f‌ields (Crisp et al., 2009;Espinosa, 2011;Fox

et al., 2009;Glass et al., 2013;May & Chubin, 2003;Min & Jang, 2015;Song & Glick,

2004;Xie & Shauman, 2003). This study explores the extent to which military service

is associated with complex intersectional (racialized and gendered) dynamics in STEM

degrees earned.

The U.S. military emphasizes STEM skills and training as an opportunity in its

recruitment materials. Indeed, undergraduate veterans are 44% more likely to declare a

STEM major than nonveteran undergraduates (NCES, 2012). Previous research also

has demonstrated a strong correlation between military service and STEM degrees

earned, particularly for women (Steidl et al., 2020). However, to date no research has

explored the extent to which this relationship holds across racial groups. This creates a

critical knowledge gap, given the nearly inverse racial demographics that characterize

the U.S. military and the U.S. STEM workforce: Blacks and Latinos (called “His-

panics”in the American Community Survey [ACS]) are underrepresented in STEM yet

heavily overrepresented among active-duty military personnel, whereas Asians are

overrepresented in STEM yet underrepresented among active-duty military personnel

(DoD, 2018). Thus, we ask: To what extent is the military associated with a higher

predicted probability of earning STEM degrees among typically underrepresented

minorities (specif‌ically Black and Latino folks)?

Analyses of American Community Survey data (ACS 2014–2018) presented here

extend extant research, suggesting that even though a positive association between

military service and STEM outcomes exists for women (Steidl et al., 2020;Werum

et al., 2020), the same cannot be said universally for underrepresented minorities. In

fact, among several groups of male veterans, intersectional patterns exacerbate classic

disparities regarding STEM degrees earned. In contrast, among women, military

service is associated with a higher probability of STEM degree earning for white,

Hispanic, and multiracial veterans. Our f‌indings are consistent and robust across two

different STEM def‌initions used by federal agencies and illuminate the complex ways

in which race, gender, and military service relate to STEM degree attainment.

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