Falling levels of participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is an international problem which is well rehearsed. For example, in Europe we are told that young people are losing interest in scientific studies (Convert 2005, Haas 2005), in the United States that students are lagging behind their international peers in mathematics and science (National Science Foundation 1998, New York Times 2007) and internationally that only a minority of young people want to become professional scientists (OECD 2007). The roots of the 'science problem' are considered to be in the poor quality of public education in the sciences, the high levels of dropout from science courses at university, poor pay and career prospects for STEM workers in comparison with other professions, an over reliance on employing foreign born STEM professionals and a failure to respond to the changing demands of an increasingly globalised STEM market (see for example, Butz et al. 2006, Seymour and Hewitt 1997). In the UK, the need to address our version of the ‘science problem’ and to make ‘Britain the best country in the world in which to be a scientist’ (Brown 2009) has included initiatives aimed at increasing recruitment to the STEM subjects at school, at university and through vocational and work based provision (HMT 2004). Taken together, these strategies largely lie through increasing the supply of young people into the STEM professions. While traditionally much of the research and policy focus around this issue has been on how science is taught in schools and in particular on the structure of the school science curriculum (NERF 2005, Jenkins and Donnelly 2006, QCA 2005), much less attention has been devoted to the undergraduate student experience and the trajectory that learners take which can lead to careers as professional scientists and technicians (for example Institute of Physics 2007). In this paper our interest is in that trajectory and in the long term patterns that underpin a sector which apparently struggles to recruit and retain the brightest and the best. Research questions This paper presents the main findings from a two year ESRC funded study into participation in post-compulsory STEM programmes in the UK. Our research sought to address three research questions: • What are the long-term patterns of participation in post-compulsory science and science-related courses? • To what extent does the undergraduate experience influence students’ decisions to pursue a career in science? • What happens to science graduates once they leave higher education?

1. Archive analysis of participation data An important aim of this study has been to examine historical trends in participation in post-compulsory science programmes. This has required the retrieval and analysis of archive data on participation and attainment at the end of compulsory schooling as well as on patterns of entry to Higher Education STEM programmes. 2. The experiences and aspirations of current undergraduates To supplement our understanding of the trajectories of STEM undergraduates we undertook a survey of the experiences and aspirations of Chemistry and Physics undergraduates studying at six British universities. For purposes of comparison, we also considered the views of arts students from the same institutions. 3. The destinations of STEM undergraduates The final phase involved an examination of the career destinations of STEM undergraduates using national data on participation in further study and employment destinations which is collected six months after graduation.

Our long term view of post-compulsory recruitment into science education shows that, in general, trends hardly vary and the track record of government policy in influencing change is not strong. Over a period of recent rapid expansion, the sciences have retained their share of the undergraduate population, providing no evidence for a swing from science at this level. However there have been shifts in popularity towards more applied subjects and away from the 'pure' sciences. The characteristics of HE scientists are also little changed, for example the Physical Sciences continue to recruit mainly white, service class, largely male, traditional age, high attaining, home domiciled students. There is no evidence to suggest that undergraduate scientists are put off a career in the STEM field, although theirs is arguably a less positive experience than that of their peers who study arts subjects. On the other hand, most science undergraduates have clear career aspirations which are largely linked to remaining in the field and often involve further study. However, upon graduation only a relatively small proportion of STEM graduates secure employment in a related field.