The current short-term longitudinal study investigated the role of college students' identity development and motivational beliefs in predicting their chemistry achievement and intentions to leave science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. We collected 4 waves of data over 1 semester from 363 diverse undergraduate STEM students enrolled in a chemistry lab course. The results of analyses that examined the reciprocal relations among the variables over time (i.e., cross-lagged path analysis) suggested tbat identity development that involved exploration (e.g., information-seeking, reflection) was positively related to students' beliefs about their competence and value for the STEM major and negatively related to perceptions of effort cost (drawbacks associated with time and effort) for the major. Identity development that did not involve exploration was related to low competence beliefs and high perceptions of costs for the STEM major. Competence beliefs, values, and perceptions of cost for the major were dynamically related to chemistry achievement and to students' intentions to leave tbe STEM major over the semester, with different kinds of cost perceptions (drawbacks associated with effort, lost opportunities, and stress and anxiety) relating differentially to students' intentions. The results support the role of identity development in students' motivation for a STEM major and address a gap in the literature regarding the role of perceived eost in students' academic choices.

This longitudinal study investigated development in expectancy for success (perceived competence), 3 types of task value (utility, interest, attainment), and 3 types of perceived cost (opportunity, effort, psychological) for engineering students during their first 2 years of college. Latent growth curve models indicated declines in expectancy and values, with attainment value declining more slowly than expectancy, interest value, and utility value. Costs increased over time, with effort cost increasing more rapidly than psychological cost. Demographic differences were observed in initial levels of motivation, but not in rates of change over time. Students with slower declines in expectancy and value and slower increases in effort cost achieved higher grades and were more likely to remain in an engineering major. The attainment value model explained the largest amount of variance in engineering major retention, while the expectancy model explained the largest amount of variance in GPA. Taking a supportive gateway course in the first semester rather than later was associated with slower declines in utility value and attainment value, and slower increases in effort cost. Results suggest expectancy, values, and costs display unique patterns of development and uniquely relate to predictors and outcomes, extending our theoretical understanding of motivation in early college. Implications for practice include the promise of programmatic efforts to support students’ motivation in engineering through supportive gateway courses early in college.

This five-year longitudinal study investigates the development of science identity throughout college from an expectancy-value perspective. Specifically, heterogeneous developmental patterns of science identity across four years of college were examined using growth mixture modeling. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs (efficacy for science tasks, perceived competence in science) were modeled as antecedents, and participation in a science career after graduation was modeled as a distal outcome of these identity development trajectories. Three latent classes (High with Transitory Incline, Moderate-High and Stable, and Moderate-Low with Early Decline) were identified. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs in the first year of college significantly predicted latent class membership. In addition, students in the two highest classes were significantly more likely to report being involved in science careers or science fields after college graduation than students in the Moderate-Low with Early Decline class.

Despite efforts to attract and maintain diverse students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline, issues with attrition from undergraduate STEM majors persist. The aim of this study was to examine how undergraduate science students' competence beliefs, task values, and perceived costs in science combine into motivational profiles and to consider how such profiles relate to short-term and long-term persistence outcomes in STEM. We also examined the relations between underrepresented group membership and profile membership. Using latent profile analysis, we identified three profiles that characterized 600 participants' motivation during their first semester in college: Moderate All, Very High Competence/Values-Low Effort Cost, andHigh Competence/Values-Moderate Low Costs. The Moderate All profile was associated with the completion of fewer STEM courses and lower STEM grade point averages relative to the other profiles after 1 and 4 years of college. Furthermore, underrepresented minority students were overrepresented in the Moderate All profile. Findings contribute to our understanding of how science competence beliefs, task values, and perceived costs may coexist and what combinations of these variables may be adaptive or deleterious for STEM persistence and achievement. Science Education. 2019;103:264-286. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sce

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