Understanding the factors contributing to low enrollment of science students in undergraduate programs

Abstract The pursuit of science is essential for the progress and development of a nation. However, there is evidence of a persistent decline in the number of students opting for science courses in undergraduate programs across the world. This paper investigated the perceptions of the students regarding the reasons for the dearth of science students and why science students switch their majors after the completion of 12 years of education (Intermediate level) in Pakistan. A sequential mixed-methods analysis comprising a survey of a convenience sample of 101 undergraduate students and qualitative interviews with 6 science faculty were used for data collection in the City of Lahore. The findings from quantitative data analyses indicated that the major factors associated with the dearth of science students are favorite subject (<0.05), lack of access to well-trained science teachers (<0.09), parents’ wishes against science subjects (<0.03), and poor grades (<0.001). The qualitative data from science teachers showed that reasons for lack of interest in science subjects include the lack of experts in science fields in Pakistan, the quality of science textbooks, the norm of rote memorization of scientific concepts, the annual examination system (as opposed to semester or quarter) and lack of refresher courses for science faculty. The study concluded that a complex set of individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors act as reasons (barriers or facilitators) for students’ lack of interest in science as a field of college-level education.


Introduction
The low enrollment in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects is a significant challenge for educational institutions worldwide (Obi & Obi, 2019).Poor academic achievement in science subjects is generally attributed to ineffective teaching pedagogies (Reardon, 2018).The last few years have seen poor completion rates among college-level science students with an estimated 45% of students having abandoned college without completing their degrees in science subjects (Kennedy et al., 2018).Globally, one-fourth of students ages 15-22 years are likely to switch their areas of study from STEM to non-STEM (Freeman et al., 2019).The ratio is even higher after high school graduation because most of the students find science subjects boring and difficult as they are unable to relate science subjects to their practical lives (Shirazi, 2017).
Understanding the factors contributing to low enrollment of science students in undergraduate programs is a complex and multifaceted issue (Soffa & Raskind, 2021).A slew of challenges to STEM subjects exists around the globe, particularly in low-resourced societies, including those surrounding lack of training and preparation of science teachers, poor accessibility of science textbooks and other classroom facilities/resources, lack of time and resources for students to prepare for final exams, and lack of access to the Internet (Timms et al., 2018).In addition to those structural challenges, students' decision to pursue a degree in the sciences is influenced by personal, social, and institutional factors.Students' individual-level deterrents to enrollment in science programs include students' poor academic achievement and low interest in science education.These deterrents to interest in science education are conditioned by sociodemographic factors, such as gender, race, and socio-economic status (Hogan & Aguirre, 2021).For example, negative stereotypes and a lack of role models dissuade women, minorities, and disenfranchised high-school students from pursuing STEM education.
Institutional factors, such as the availability of resources and support for science students, also have a significant impact on enrollment rates (Bautista et al., 2022).Academic institutions that provide robust resources and support for science students tend to have higher enrollment rates in science programs (Bautista et al., 2022).The quality of the curriculum and pedagogy of science programs can play a significant role in student enrollment.For instance, the academic programs for degrees in science with flawed design require memorization and rote learning rather than critical thinking and problem-based skill development tend to alienate students who prefer a more hands-on and interactive approach to learning (Sánchez-Ruíz et al., 2022).Additionally, poorly designed science programs may not adequately address issues of justice, equity, and inclusion, making those programs less accessible and attractive to students with diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups (Klinger & Talanquer, 2022).Addressing those issues within the context of globalization has made scientific knowledge and skills critically important resources (Jeffries et al., 2020).To attract students to science programs and subjects, a paradigm shift in science education from a teacher-centered curriculum to a learner-centered curriculum is imperative.This is so because the institutions and countries with continuous improvements and ongoing updates to the scientific curricula matching the changing realities of the competitive local and global job market requirements are adequately positioned to attract high-quality students to and provide competitive science education (Murphy, 2020).In every field, the development of science and technology remains a significant factor for a well-paying job.Continuous improvement in scientific curricula is also important because high-quality education, especially at an undergraduate level, is critical for the sustainable development of any nation (Watt et al., 2019).
The education system in Pakistan embodies flaws rooted in infrastructure and resource inadequacies.In Pakistani educational institutions, the specific area of emphasis is usually decided after the completion of 8 th grade.Upon entering ninth grade, students must choose the elective subjects as their focus areas, for instance, sciences, technology, mathematics, or social sciences (Hali et al., 2021).Students who choose science as their major are required to study three disciplines, i.e., Chemistry, Physics, and Biology or Mathematics, and two disciplines for Laboratory Techniques (Chemistry/Physics and Biology).However, due to the lack of instructional resources and teachers' incompetency, the science-track students in grades 9 th through 12 th do not select sciences as their major because of their poor grades in science subjects such as Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and Mathematics (Landicho, 2020).Furthermore, science textbooks are not written in an easy and meaningful language and students cannot relate to the materials because they lack illustrations relevant to the student's life experiences (Ismail, 2018).In addition, those textbooks fail to relate the subject matter to practical work and remain incapable of stimulating critical thinking (Boyd & Tian, 2018).Resource-poor countries also face the abandonment of science education due to the lack of resources in science laboratories.Cogent education Economic disparities further the inequities and disparities concerning science education.Malik (2017) suggested that the students who opt for science as their major are usually from the elite class, particularly those who can afford a private tutor fee or home tuition.In contrast, many of the students from the deprived and middle-class face difficulty in pursuing the science track at the higher secondary levels because of financial barriers (Crews et al., 2020).The availability of well-trained science teachers to schools and students of all socioeconomic standings can help bridge the gap between theoretical and practical work and reduce the tendency to abandon the science track by students from low-income families (Marmon, 2019).Only trained teachers can make science subjects easy to understand, through the effective use of innovative pedagogies within the available resources.Suryawati and Osman (2017) argued that to make students problem-solvers and creative learners, the teacher must strategize instructional techniques that engage students, ask them relevant questions, give examples relevant to students' daily experiences, and help them come up with creative solutions and new ideas (Peters-Burton et al., 2019).
Quantitative studies support the premise that well-trained teachers are the most important factor in the teaching-learning process, including the on-the-job teacher training (Bellue et al., 2022).The provision of relevant, in-service training to untrained teachers can play a pivotal role in assuring the quality of science education (Jessani, 2015).Given that students are among the central stakeholders in the education process, improvement in science education and retention in STEM education can be assured by assessing and addressing students' perspectives about the reason for the lack of interest in science education after intermediate (Li et al., 2020).A better understanding of teacher-student perceptions of the factors that lead to declining science education and ways to address such decline should inform curriculum revisions and improvement interventions, to increase students' enrolment in a science discipline and address the dearth of science education (Williams & Mangan, 2016).
Prospects of post-completion success (e.g., job placements) are also considered important to attract college students (Shahhosseini et al., 2020).Therefore, the availability of career opportunities for science graduates can also influence enrollment rates (Shahhosseini et al., 2020).Students may be more likely to enroll in science programs if they perceive that there are ample job opportunities and a clear career trajectory for science graduates.However, if students perceive that science careers are unstable or do not provide adequate compensation, prospective students may be less likely to enroll in science programs (Prince & Felder, 2022).Understanding the factors that contribute to low enrollment of science students in undergraduate programs is a complex and multifaceted issue that requires attention to personal, social, institutional, and career-related factors.Addressing these factors through targeted interventions and supportive policies can help to increase enrollment rates in science programs and ensure that all students have access to the benefits of science education (DeBose & Dancy, 2022).Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to pursue the following objectives, to provide such research evidence for interventions and policies in Pakistan, aiming to improve students' interest in science education.

Research objective
To contribute to the empirical evidence about the scarcity of students in science education, this study pursues the following objectives: • To describe the science faculty's perspective on the reasons for the low Enrollment of Science

Students in Undergraduate Programs
• To analyze the science students' perspective on reasons for low Enrollment of Science Students in Undergraduate Programs.

Research design and sampling
The study used a sequential mixed-methods research approach that involved primary quantitative data collection from students through a structured questionnaire and qualitative data from teachers based on open-ended interview guides.The study targeted all undergraduate students and science faculty members from the public and private colleges in Lahore city.A convenience sampling technique was used to select a sample of 101 graduate students enrolled at five different colleges in the city.In addition, a purposive sampling technique was used to select six science faculty members to collect qualitative data.

Research instruments
To pursue the objectives of this research study, researchers designed two separate research instruments, a structured survey questionnaire, and an open-ended qualitative interview guide.
The structured questionnaire was used for quantitative data comprising two sections: the first section covered questions about the students' demographic characteristics, and the second section consisted of 10 statements on the reasons for students changing their majors after 12 years of education (Intermediate level).For these 10 statements, we used a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.For the subject category, we asked students to indicate their favorite subject in the previous class which is intermediate (12 years of education).
The scale for my favorite subjects consisted of physics, chemistry, biology, and statistics.
For the qualitative data, we used an interview guide for semi-structured interviews as the datagathering instrument.The first section of this instrument consisted of demographic questions that provided information regarding the science faculty's demographic information (age, educational qualification, and gender).The second section included six open-ended questions on reasons for the dearth of science students in undergraduate programs.Due to the closure of educational institutions, all the interviews were conducted through phone calls.
Table 1 provides information on a survey instrument that measures a construct, where Cronbach Alpha and the number of items are reported.In our study, the Cronbach Alpha is 0.975, which is considered very high and suggests that the items in the survey instrument are highly consistent in measuring the construct.The table also indicates that the survey instrument contains ten items.The sample size is reported as 50, which could refer to the number of participants who completed the survey.

Data collection procedure
Due to the Pandemic situation, the survey questionnaire was collected via Google Forms, and interviews were conducted telephonically.We collected all the data in November 2022.As mentioned earlier, the data were collected in two phases.In the first phase, a survey questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students to collect their perspectives about the change of field from science to a non-science discipline.The survey questionnaire was limited to only undergraduate students because the students typically experience this uncertainty after completion of their 12 th grade (Intermediate level).So, they are best positioned to answer why most of them do not continue science as their major after 12 years of education.A total of 110 questionnaires were distributed using Google Forms, out of which 101 were returned, constituting a response rate of 92%.To determine the reliability of the instrument a pilot study was conducted with a sample of 20 students.For qualitative data, interviews were conducted with six senior science faculty members.To ensure the reliability of the responses the transcripts of the interviews were shared with the participants for reconfirmation of their responses.

Measures
Ten variables, namely, quality of science textbooks, lack of career counselors, lack of resources, quality of teaching, lack of refresher courses for faculty, and role of parents, were examined as dependent variables to reflect possible reasons for the dearth of science students in undergraduate programs.The demographic variables-favorite subject, monthly household income, age, and gender-were treated as independent variables in our analyses on the dearth of science students in Undergraduate programs after 12 years of education (Intermediate level).For the statements concerning low enrollment of students in science subjects, the responses were recorded on the 3-point Likert scale: strongly disagree or disagree (1), neutral (2), and strongly agree or agree (3).

Data analysis
We conducted the Chi-square analysis to examine the factors associated with students' perceptions about the reasons for the dearth of science students in undergraduate programs.We also performed descriptive statistics to provide context to our inferential analysis.The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS statistical version 25.The researchers performed a thematic analysis of the qualitative data to synthesize faculty's perceptions about the dearth of science students in undergraduate programs, using three passes of code-open, coaxial, and selective.The open codes were assigned to all possible themes.Coaxial coding was performed to create any treelike structures for each broader theme by selecting some thematic codes as sub-themes.Selective coding was used for data reduction, to eliminate non-relevant themes and subthemes.

Results from the descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics for the demographic characteristics of study participants are presented in Table 2. Students are inclined to have biology as their favorite subject compared to chemistry, physics, and Mathematics.While 23% of students' favorite subject was Physics, 20% of students' favorite subject was Mathematics, and a much lower percentage of students (i.e., 7%) indicated Chemistry was their favorite.Although a large proportion of students (i.e., 44.6%) did not know their household income, 7.9% reported it as less than RS.40000, for 20.8% the household income fell in Rs. 41000 to 80,000 range, and for 15.8% it was in Rs. 81000 to 109,999 income categories.
The majority (66.3%) of the participating students were females.
Table 3 presents descriptive statistics for the faculty that participated in the qualitative component of the study, which shows that 33.3% of the faculty participants were male, while 66.7% were female.The majority of those faculty (50%) had an MPhil degree, and 33.3% had a PhD degree.Two of these six faculty (or 33.3%) had 10-15 years of teaching experience, while four out of six (or 66.7%) had 15-20 years of teaching experience.

Results from the Chi-square analyses
Presented in Table 4, our Chi-square analyses showed that students' perception of which of the science subjects was their favorite was significantly associated" (p = 0.048) with their level of agreement that "biology/math was a subject I enjoyed most at the intermediate level," indicating that positive perceptions about the science subjects at the time of the study were associated with whether students enjoyed biology/math in their intermediate level studies.Nearly 71% of students who indicated that biology was their favorite subject strongly agreed or agreed with the statement that "Biology/math was a subject I enjoyed most at the intermediate level."Other variables presented in this table were not statistically significantly associated with this dependent variable.Table 4 also revealed that when students found the science subjects uninteresting, male students were less inclined to leave the science subject than female students, evident from a lower percentage of males than females, 17.6% vs. 38.8%(p = 0.011) strongly agreed or agreed to the statement, "I left Science at the graduate level because I found the subjects uninteresting." The students' age was associated with whether they get impacted in selecting the science subjects because of their parent's wishes.Students aged 23 years or older had the highest percentage strongly agreeing or agreeing (46.2%) to the statement "I opted for science at the intermediate level because of my parent's wishes," compared to 35.0% and 35.3% respectively for students in ages 19-22 years and <18 years respectively (p = 0.036).Chemistry subject was more likely to be the favorite subject for those who strongly agree/agree (57.1%), while biology and         None of the variables in Table 4 was associated at p ≤ 0.05 with the variable represented by the level of agreement with the statement "I opted for science subjects due to peer influence."Table 4 indicates a high proportion of individuals with a monthly household income less than Rs.40000, 75.0% agreed or strongly agreed that they gave up studying science due to the inability to join a medical college or engineering university.This shows a significant influence of financial constraints on individuals' decisions to give up science studies and their ability to join medical colleges or engineering universities.The p-value of 0.001 suggests a strong association between total monthly household income and the decision to give up science studies.
For the consultation with a career counselor, the p-value of 0.053 suggests a statistically significant association of the favorite subject with the level of agreement with the statement "I have consulted a career counselor personnel to discuss the subjects one should take after not getting admitted to medicine/engineering College."This indicates that there is a potential association between favorite subjects and seeking guidance from a career counselor regarding subject selection after not being admitted to medicine or engineering college.

Results of the qualitative interviews
Table 5 describes the themes from the qualitative analysis.These themes cover an array of reasons for low interest in science subjects, which touch upon individual-level reasons, interpersonal/family reasons as well as institutional reasons.
The main themes that were derived from the analysis of the interview data are as follows:

Theme Description
Lack of Experts in Science Fields in Pakistan This theme refers to the scarcity of highly qualified and experienced experts in various scientific fields in Pakistan.

Quality of Science textbooks
This theme refers to the quality of textbooks used to teach science subjects in schools and colleges in Pakistan.

Rote Memorization of Scientific Concepts
This theme refers to the tendency of students to memorize scientific concepts without understanding them.

Annual Examination System
This theme refers to the system of annual examinations in Pakistan and its impact on the teaching and learning process.

Lack of Career Counselors
This theme refers to the shortage of career counselors in schools and colleges in Pakistan.

Role of Parents
This theme refers to the role of parents in shaping their children's attitudes toward science and scientific careers.

Lack of Resources
This theme refers to the shortage of resources, including laboratory equipment, libraries, and funding for research.

Lack of Motivation among students to go for Higher Degrees
This theme refers to the lack of motivation among students to pursue higher degrees in science fields.

Lack of Refresher Courses for Faculty
This theme refers to the shortage of refresher courses and professional development opportunities for science faculty.

Lack of experts, investments, and infrastructure in science fields in Pakistan
A general lack of experts was pointed to as a primary reason for low science enrollment.Faculty members said that no incentives are given to the students studying science and no encouragement is granted from the government.They also felt that people do not understand the importance of science or its relevance to society.Lack of support and funding from the government is also a drawback for experimental setups.
Here is what different faculty members said: The curriculum was outdated, there was a lack of professional development of teachers, a lack of quality teachers, a system of examination, poor supervisory standards, internal and external influences, and a lack of resources.
The environment in Pakistan tends to snub trying new and different methods which is the first step for any scientific method causing an expert to move away or stop his work.
The science and technology sector in Pakistan has not been given the importance and status it deserves.Due to insufficient funding and meager facilities, the educational and R&D institutions have not delivered as expected.Hence, the quality of education and its products (graduates) have also suffered.
Institutions and Research organizations in Pakistan need to develop/upgrade to an internationally acceptable level of excellence by increasing teaching and appropriate research facilities/opportunities.Only when science educators & researchers are provided with a conducive environment to excel in their profession, they will then be able to effectively deliver lectures.This also includes opportunities for national/International training granted on merit e.g., improving pay packages, providing incentives and performance-based promotions, etc.

Quality of science textbooks
Improving and modernizing textbooks was a concern for all faculty members participating in the study.Some representative quotes are listed below: The textbook boards have taken some steps to make the textbooks interesting and to update them to some extent and now Higher Education Commission (HEC) has reviewed and designed the curriculum at the tertiary level.Unfortunately, it is felt that the deficiencies in these institutions are affected by the politics of inside officials and officers.The textbooks of science are designed in a manner that is too abstract and formal; they are outdated, and deficient in content as well as presentation.They lacked focus and precision which are needed to understand and work with scientific phenomena.They need to be more focused and need to fulfill the requirements of developing the concept and creating and maintaining the interest of the students.The textbooks have not evolved with the changes in society.Furthermore, the data and methodology these books are meant to inculcate are useless today.

Rote memorization of scientific concepts
Students' lack of interest in science as a major at the undergraduate level is rooted in the norm of rote learning or memorizing based on repetition rather than meaningful learning.In the beginning, the students attempt rote memorization of science subjects, but they cannot be successful because science is based on facts, and observations, and is application-oriented.Here are the responses from different Faculty members: There was no dearth of science students rather everyone tends to take up science thinking it is a set of already fixed teachings that need to be learned.Teaching quality, as well as teacher competency, is an important factor in students' choices.The motivation and quality of teachers do influence students' choice of science subjects.If a teacher stimulates interest in a subject the students likely develop an interest in that subject.Students may not choose basic sciences such as Math, Physics, and Chemistry in particular, as they consider these dry, and difficult, and believe that it is more difficult to achieve high grades.

Annual examination system
The annual examination system raises the stakes, resulting in high anxiety and stress.In this system, the students study for the entire year but get a single shot at showing their knowledge, competence, and ability to retain.The students find these examinations difficult due to the rigid evaluation.The exam for each of the subjects needs to be completed within a short time duration.
Here is what different faculty members said: Teachers try to teach faster and thus lose the essence of the concepts and facts they are trying to teach.Over a period, examination papers have changed from the more subjective type to a mix of objective and subjective; but even today they do not examine a student's thinking, analytical, and creative skills.They mainly examine their knowledge of the subject e.g., descriptive and memorizing.

Lack of career counselors
Today students have an extensive range of subjects available with numerous career opportunities.Generally, there is a decreased relative popularity of science subjects as compared to other subjects.Respondents were predominantly of the view that career counselors are needed to advise and mentor students about career opportunities, but there is a shortage of such counselors who can encourage gifted students to choose science subjects: There are fewer incentives and limited career opportunities available for science graduates.
Most students opt for specialization in the field of medicine and engineering and there is a lack of motivation for students who finally finish their degree in scientific fields due to the low standard of science education in educational institutions.
There is a low percentage of investment in research and development.

Role of parents
In a low-literacy society such as Pakistan where older generations cannot be role models in science education, alternative role models are essential, including teachers proactively performing such roles.Usually, in Pakistan, parents have a prominent role to play in the selection of subjects and professions for their children, but many of them cannot properly guide their children in the selection of the best subjects.
Here is what different faculty members said: For girls especially, parents are more inclined toward Humanities and social sciences.However, gender-based preferences are the factors that are considered in the selection of some science subjects.Female students themselves also prefer non-science subjects.Most literature on science education is mostly in the English language and students with lower socioeconomic and illiterate families are unlikely to choose science subjects.

Lack of resources
Most public, as well as private sector institutions, are not adequately equipped to carry out practical\experimental, and research work.
Here is what different faculty members said: The dearth of funds is a major impediment to transmitting quality education and training, as relatively more funds are needed to replace outdated equipment/material for practical demonstration/students' practical work.
The fee is another factor as science subjects are associated with higher fee structures and other related costs.
Another teacher claimed that laboratories contain all basic equipment usually surplus and not in use however there may be a lack of advanced equipment required for research purposes.
To the query of whether laboratories are properly equipped with all the instruments required for scientific experiments and research, all the respondents agreed that science laboratories are inadequately equipped in Pakistan.They commented that this is true for both public and private institutions but more so for government schools and colleges.As one of the respondents said, If we talk about experimental setups/labs in the public sector, unfortunately, they lack even the necessities.In the private sector, the situation is not very encouraging either.
In general, they said that schools and colleges do not have well-equipped laboratories and pure science is limited to memorizing theory for most of the students, disliking the science subjects due to rote learning.Another respondent said: In institutions, old apparatus, and equipment are being used for several decades and have not been changed.

Lack of motivation among students to pursue higher degrees in science
The respondents gave several factors that could motivate students to go for science disciplines.
Here is what they said: Ways need to be figured out to motivate students to opt for science subjects.Being a developing country Pakistan lacks the resources as it cannot provide lab equipment or let each student work with the apparatus, so a suggestion to keep their interest alive would be to have virtual labs as part of the curriculum.Motivation is always given by the sitting governments whereas in our country not even research work is given attention and researchers are not appreciated.Students, unfortunately, are unaware of the benefits of science subjects.Therefore, students must be motivated by teachers.Science Education in Pakistan is not research-based therefore the students are not trained to think out of the box from the very beginning.So, they find science subjects challenging at the undergraduate level and mostly opt for the easy way out later.

Lack of refresher courses for faculty
Science faculty, though better qualified, needs to be well informed about recent developments and innovations.

Discussion
In this study, we used a sequential mixed-method approach wherein qualitative and quantitative data were collected in phases.The quantitative survey questionnaire provided the students' perspective on the reasons for the dearth of science students in undergraduate programs.Our analysis of the factors associated with undergraduate student perceptions about the statements concerning low enrollment of students in science subjects showed a few significant associations.Perhaps the most consequential research evidence revealed by this analysis comprises the gender differences in the inclination of students to switch from science to non-science subjects when they believed the science subjects were boring, unexciting, and uninteresting.A much smaller proportion of male students than female students strongly agreed or agreed that they left science at the graduate level because they found the subjects uninteresting, which is perhaps an indication of the stereotypical norm that bread-winning is men's responsibility.This stereotypical view that men's sphere is the economic sphere and of women's it is the home sphere has historically resulted in women's treatment as a financial liability, leading to customs such as dowry, that are extremely detrimental to women and the whole society (Nawaz et al., 2022).
This study also showed that the student's age was an important mediator of whether they get impacted in selecting the science subjects because of their parent's wishes as the students in ages 23 years or older (compared to younger students) had higher chances of choosing science at the intermediate level because of their parent's wishes.Although on the surface this finding seems counter-intuitive, perhaps the increasing age also brings an increased level of maturity, trust, and understanding of reasons for parents to recommend science vs. non-science due to the financial implications in career choices.Our findings are aligned with existing literature on the factors influencing students' and teachers' perceptions about subject selection, and career choices (Klinger & Talanquer, 2022;Malik, 2017).The results highlight the significance of perceptions of students and teachers on reasons for low enrolment in science subjects in undergraduate programs, which are consistent with previous studies emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation and interest for academic success (Owoeye & Olatunde Yara, 2011).The influence of teachers and parents on subject selection aligns with prior research demonstrating the impact of role models and support systems in shaping students' educational decisions (Hogan & Aguirre, 2021).The findings of this current study suggest that individuals' preferences and influences may evolve, indicating the need and support tailored to science studies (Murphy, 2020).However, students' and teachers' perceptions regarding peer influence in subject selection align with existing literature highlighting the social dynamics in educational decision-making processes (Reardon, 2018).
The perspectives of the science faculty from qualitative data yielded some important insights into why students lack interest in science, particularly within the context of a low-resource country such as Pakistan.The findings from the qualitative interviews revealed the reasons for the decline in the number of science graduates in Pakistan.There were implications of the qualitative findings for public interventions such as infrastructure building, counseling, and advising of students and the need for the government to incentivize the choice of and support to pursue science studies.The government should motivate science graduate students by giving them financial support.The insufficient budget for science education is a major impediment to transmitting quality education, as relatively more funds are needed to replace outdated equipment, material for practical demonstration, and library books.The science faculty also thought that another set of disincentives for science subjects included ill-equipped laboratories and a culture of rote learning that promotes repetition rather than place-based, practice-based understanding.Other issues were believed to be the outdated curriculum and a lack of faculty's on-the-job training and professional development.The annual exam system and poor supervisory standards for internal and external examinations were also among the barriers to making science more attractive to students.The faculty strongly felt that Science and Technology sector in Pakistan has not been given the importance and status it deserves.The existing literature showed that institutions and research organizations in Pakistan need to upgrade to an internationally acceptable level of excellence by increasing appropriate research facilities for students (Owoeye & Olatunde Yara, 2011).The qualitative study participants also argued that textbooks need to be upgraded and their quality needs to be enhanced.They reported that Pakistani textbooks are usually printed on poor-quality paper with indistinct illustrations and written in difficult vocabulary.The Science faculty emphasized that teacher training programs are essential for science teachers that better equip them to stimulate their students during the teaching-learning process (Tapilouw et al., 2017).

Limitations
This study yields some significant insights into reasons for the lack of students' interest in science at the undergraduate level, but our findings should be viewed within the context of its limitations.First, this research was limited to the colleges of Lahore City, limiting the geographic representation.The convenience sampling limited the study's discrimination power by introducing a greater risk of chance error and misrepresentation of the target population.Secondly, due to the pandemic situation, the researchers had to limit the qualitative interview to only six interviews.The qualitative interviews were conducted telephonically, rather than in-person.

Conclusions
The study findings have implications for the interventions focusing on improving students' interest in enrolling in science subjects, majors, and degrees.Given that students, particularly female students are more likely to switch to non-science subjects and programs, efforts should be made to make the science subjects more interesting, exciting, and engaging.To that end, the science curricula should be assessed to see their alignment with scientific developments and updated according to new trends and needs of the market.Our dings also suggested the need for science textbooks to be upgraded and made attractive.The lack of institutional infrastructure as the reason for the lack of interest in science implies that the allocation of funds for science education should be a much higher national strategic priority.In addition, various forums at the intermediate level need to be established to provide awareness about different science-related fields and available opportunities for a career in science.To show the return on investment by students and families, more incentives and better career opportunities must be provided by the public and non-profit entities to science students.Poorly trained science teachers lead students to rely on rote learning.To address, this issue, the teacher training program must be made mandatory for secondary and higher secondary science teachers.Trained & competent faculty to be hired so that they can dedicate time to effective teaching strategies.

Table 4 . Chi-Square analysis of undergraduate student perceptions about the statements concerning low enrollment of students in science subjects Demographic Char.
Biology /math was a subject I enjoyed most at the intermediate level.

I was aware of professions /careers available to me if I continued to study science subjects at a higher level.
Teaching Training programs for science teachers should be conducted to equip them with modern techniques of teaching/instructional technology that encourage students to interact, participate, and inquire.Here is what they said:Traditional teaching techniques require to be replaced with a more experiential way of teaching to develop an interest in the subject.The faculty is knowledgeable enough to deliver courses including lab components.Despite that to remain current and relevant training must be arranged.Generally, teachers are trained to teach various science courses, but no refresher courses are specifically offered annually.