The Role of Guidance Counselors in Narrowing the Gender Gap in STEM Endorsements - Research Brief - February 2024

Oct 15, 2026

Research brief examining gendered patterns in STEM endorsement choices in Houston Independent School District and how they shifted after a policy change in guidance counseling. The first cohort selected endorsements in 2014–2015 without a senior-year PGP check-in, while the second cohort selected in 2015–2016 and met with counselors during the 2018–2019 senior year through Personal Graduation Plan (PGP) check-ins. Findings show ninth-grade gender gaps, with the gap nearly disappearing by graduation for the 2019 class, suggesting individualized counseling may improve female STEM retention.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Key Findings

Background

Personalized Graduation Plan (PGP)

Gender, STEM, and Counseling

Building Better Cities Building Better Lives The Role of Guidance Counselorsin Narrowing the Gender Gap in STEM Endorsements Brian Holzman*, Bethany Lewis and Hao Ma Photo by This is Engineer ing RAEng on Unsplash * Corresponding [author: bholzman@tamu.edu](author: bholzman@tamu.edu) Research Brief February 2024 Suggested citation. Holzman, B., Lewis, B., & Ma, H. (2024).“The Role of Guidance Counselors in Narrowing the Gender Gap in STEM Endorsements.” Houston, TX: Houston Education Research Consortium, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University. Note on the authors. Brian Holzman, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Texas A&M University. Bethany Lewis, M.A., is an analyst at Ithaka S+R. Funding acknowledgment. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1842378. About HERC. Focusing on the most pressing challenges facing the region, the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) is a research-practice partnership between the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and 11 Houston-area school districts. HERC research is developed directly alongside district leaders with findings shared with decision-makers—culminating in long-term, equity-minded solutions, opportunities and growth for Houston and beyond. [DOI: ](DOI: doi.org/10.25611/JK8Q-XN28)[doi.org/10.25611/JK8Q-XN28](DOI: doi.org/10.25611/JK8Q-XN28) Research Brief The Role of Guidance Counselors in Narrowing the Gender Gap in STEM Endorsements This study examined whether there were gendered patterns in STEM endorsement choice in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and how those patterns changed over time, in the wake of a policy change to guidance counseling. The first students required to choose high school endorsements were freshmen in 2014–2015 and graduated high school in spring 2018. The second cohort of students required to do so were freshmen in 2015–2016 and graduated in spring 2019. Students in this second cohort met with their guidance counselor during their senior year to check in on their endorsement progress; this meeting was called the Personal Graduation Plan (PGP) checkin. This was a new district policy implemented beginning in fall 2018, which means that the first cohort did not experience the PGP check-in, while the second cohort did. This study reveals gender gaps in STEM endorsement choice among ninth-grade students. For the high school graduating class of 2018, which did not experience the PGP check-in, female students were less likely than male students to choose the STEM endorsement at any point during high school. However, for the high school graduating class of 2019, which did experience the PGP check-in, female students were less likely than male students to choose the STEM endorsement upon high school entry. Importantly, however, this gender gap in STEM endorsement choice nearly disappeared by high school graduation, suggesting that individualized counseling efforts might be a strategy to improve female retention in STEM. Key Findings ▪ Female students were less likely than male students to choose the STEM endorsement. ▪ The gender gap in STEM endorsement choice nearly closed for students in the class of 2019 after experiencing the PGP check-in. ▪ Among students in the class of 2019, who experienced the PGP check-in, females were more likely to stick with STEM than males. The Role of Guidance Counselors in Narrowing the Gender Gap in STEM Endorsements ~~ ~~1~~ ~~ Background In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 5. This bill introduced a high school graduation framework called the Foundation High School Program, which aimed to increase students’ college and career readiness by having them complete an endorsement. Endorsements are similar to college majors and are away for students to specialize in an area aligned with their career goals. There are five endorsements students can choose from, and under each there are multi

FAQs

What question does the study address about STEM endorsements?

The study examines whether STEM endorsement choices show gendered patterns in HISD and how those patterns change over time after a guidance counseling policy update.

How did the Personal Graduation Plan (PGP) check-in change student counseling?

Beginning in fall 2018, students in later cohorts had senior-year meetings to review endorsement progress through the PGP check-in, helping counselors determine course adjustments needed to complete chosen endorsements.

What do the results suggest about reducing the gender gap by graduation?

For the 2019 graduating class that experienced the PGP check-in, the gender gap in STEM endorsement choice nearly disappeared by high school graduation, indicating individualized counseling efforts may support female retention in STEM.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks