{"doi":"10.1073/pnas.2300463120","title":"Utility-value intervention promotes persistence and diversity in STEM","abstract":"We tested the long-term effects of a utility-value intervention administered in a gateway chemistry course, with the goal of promoting persistence and diversity in STEM. In a randomized controlled trial (N = 2,505), students wrote three essays about course content and its personal relevance or three control essays. The intervention significantly improved STEM persistence overall (74% vs. 70% were STEM majors 2.5 y later). Effects were larger for students from marginalized and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, who were 14 percentage points more likely to persist in STEM fields in the intervention condition (69% vs. 55%). Mediation analysis suggests that the intervention promoted persistence for these students by bolstering their motivation to attain a STEM degree and by promoting engagement with course assignments. This theory-informed curricular intervention is a promising tool for educators committed to retaining students in STEM.","journal":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences","year":2023,"id":318793,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":61,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9553,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":288584,"name":"Judith M. Harackiewicz","orcid":"0000-0003-4748-1174","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1026772,"name":"Patrick N. Beymer","orcid":"0000-0002-3569-2305","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":308385,"name":"Cameron A. Hecht","orcid":"0000-0003-4842-6003","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1026773,"name":"Liana B. Lamont","orcid":"0000-0002-9208-1877","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1026774,"name":"Nicole M. Else‐Quest","orcid":"0000-0002-4177-2395","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":308386,"name":"Stacy J. Priniski","orcid":"0000-0002-5614-2150","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":288595,"name":"Dustin B. Thoman","orcid":"0000-0002-7763-762X","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":308389,"name":"Janet Shibley Hyde","orcid":"0000-0001-7372-3902","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":288594,"name":"Jessi L. Smith","orcid":"0000-0001-6439-1336","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":308388,"name":"Michael W. Asher","orcid":"0000-0002-1006-8813","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":40,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:07:06.454099Z","pmid":"37126675","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}