Registration and Retainment of the 2012 Cohort of Undergraduates at an Open University in Thailand: A Natural Experiment in STEM vs. Non-STEM Education?

INTRODUCTION: Human resource development in STEM is an important part of sustaining economic growth and avoiding the middle-income trap. Undergraduate STEM enrollment and retainment are affected by socioeconomic characteristics as well as academic issues, as well as social-psychological issues unique to STEM. Enrollment data from Ramkhamhaeng University, an open university in Thailand that offers both STEM and non-STEM four-year degrees, can offer basic information and provide insights to relevant stakeholders. The objective of this study is to present data on registration and retainment of undergraduate students at Ramkhamhaeng University in the 2012 cohort, with disaggregation by faculty, major subjects, and semester of enrollment. METHODS: The author accessed publicly available data on enrollment of Ramkhamhaeng University students in the 2012 cohort and entered the data manually in speadsheets. The author analyzed data using descriptive statistics with disaggregation by academic program and semester of enrollment. RESULTS: In the first semester of the 2012 academic year, there were a total of 41,382 students who joined the 2012 cohort of Ramkhamhaeng University. The majority of new students enrolled in either Political Science, Law, or Business Administration. Only 3% of the students enrolled in a STEM program. STEM programs also have notably lower retainment compared to non-STEM programs, with Economics being a notable exception. Programs in Western languages also experienced similarly low enrollment and retainment. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Considering Ramkhamhaeng University's flexible enrollment and academic policy, the University functions as a natural experiment in higher education. Historical data from the University also suggested that such disparities were not a new phenomenon. Caveats regarding lack of graduation data and the specific contexts of the University should be considered in the interpretation of the study findings