Diversity in Statistics Education at Postsecondary Institutions

Statistics classes are required for postsecondary students in a variety of majors, in addition to students who are statistics majors themselves. Although many students will experience statistics class during college, there is very little research examining the state of diversity within these classes and within statistics programs. This study uses enrollment data from a large Midwestern university as well as nationally (USA) representative data collected from the United States National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine the status of diversity within postsecondary statistics education. Results indicate that the distribution of statistics majors by gender is fairly equitable although females may be somewhat underrepresented. In addition, Black, Hispanic, and White students are shown to be underrepresented compared to the student population, while Asian students and International students are shown to be overrepresented among statistics majors when compared to the student population. Students majoring in the social sciences are often required to take statistics classes as well; results regarding these students indicate that males are underrepresented but that these students are fairly diverse with regard to race/ethnicity. Implications and associated pedagogical guidance are explored.