Finally, while for average students many of the effects
of attending a STEM high school are not significant, STEM
schools may have a significant effect on later outcomes.
Students who attend STEM schools may be more likely to
enroll in college, take STEM subjects, major in STEM
subjects and/or follow STEM careers. This important
question deserves the attention of future research. That
said, while this study does not provide direct evidence on
post-high school or labor market outcomes – due to the
usual limitations in administrative data – there are
numerous studies documenting the relationship between
human capital and labor market outcomes, in general, and
the labor market premium to science careers in particular.
28 Improving STEM outcomes in high school may well
be the first step to improving later outcomes