Cross‐national differences in participating in tertiary science, technology, engineering and mathematics education

Langen, Annemarie van; Dekkers, H.P.J.M.

doi:10.1080/03050060500211708

Cited by 98 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Research conducted in The Netherlands on the effects of two curriculum reforms known as Second Phase (Tweede Fase) and Renewed Second Phase (Vernieuwde Tweede Fase) produced similar outcomes. These reforms that limited the freedom of choice for pupils to compose their own exam programmes, had a positive influence on female choice towards MST-related exam programmes in secondary education (Van Langen, 2005;Van Langen & Dekkers, 2005;Van Langen et al, 2008). In addition, Abbiss (2009) has reported similar findings on gendered patterns of participation in specialist ICT subjects in New Zealand.…”

Section: Freedom Of Choicesupporting

confidence: 56%

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Yazilitas¹,

Svensson

Vries³

et al. 2013

Educational Research and Evaluation

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This article presents an overview of the recent literature on gendered patterns of academic choice in mathematics, science, and technology. It distinguishes in this literature microlevel, macro-level, and institutional explanations. Micro-level explanations focus primarily on psychological constructs, that is, variables at the level of the individual students. Macro-level explanations focus primarily on socioeconomic conditions and cultural understandings of gender roles. Institutional explanations focus on design characteristics of (national) education systems. After a presentation of these perspectives and of recent research progress that has been made, the authors critically discuss the lacunae that still exist in explaining cross-national variety, and provide suggestions for designing future research in this field.Keywords: gender; education; academic choice; mathematics; science and technology Introduction Female participation in higher tertiary education has increased rapidly over the past decades.1 Currently, about 56% of all students in the European Union are women, and this figure is still rising (Eurostat, 2010). Yet, this increase in female student participation does not apply to all academic fields. In mathematics, science, and technology (MST), where women have always been underrepresented, their participation rate has actually decreased over the last years, from 41% at the end of the 1990s, to 38% in 2010 (Eurostat, 2010). The relative decline of women in MST is generally regarded as undesirable as it contrasts with European ambitions of achieving gender equality and a highly skilled, innovative society (European

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Section: Freedom Of Choicesupporting

confidence: 56%

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Yazilitas¹,

Svensson

Vries³

et al. 2013

Educational Research and Evaluation

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“…Secondly, contrary to popular belief that "engineering technical students are by nature not interested in any mathematical depth", our study revealed that sufficient depth in engineering technical mathematics may be safely explored where the depth is useful to engineering technical work (Atkin and Black 2005;Langen and Dekkers 2005). The outcome of the study also emphasized close collaboration between mathematics lecturers and personnel in industry as an important step toward the successful teaching of mathematics that would be relevant to industry (Council, T. A. and National Research Council 2001).…”

Section: Findings Based On Hypotheses H 05 To H 08contrasting

confidence: 93%

Polytechnic engineering mathematics: assessing its relevance to the productivity of industries in Uganda

Jehopio

Wesonga

2017

IJ STEM Ed

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Background: The main objective of the study was to examine the relevance of engineering mathematics to the emerging industries. The level of abstraction, the standard of rigor, and the depth of theoretical treatment are necessary skills expected of a graduate engineering technician to be derived from mathematical knowledge. The question of whether these skills are imparted to benefit emerging economies still remains a big area of investigation. This study investigated the relevancy of engineering mathematics to the benefit of local industry in a developing economy, Uganda.Results: There was a significant difference between the mathematics being taught to the engineering technical students and the mathematics relevant to the engineering technical work in the industries (p value < 0.05). Implying that the mathematics taught to engineering technical students, though relevant, is not in the form of what the industries require. The use, practicability, depth, rigor, modernity, relevancy, and usefulness of the taught mathematics were all statistically different from the desired mathematical skills for the industry. Moreover, the extent of use of the engineering mathematics did not differ between the required and taught and among the civil, electrical, and mechanical branches of engineering.

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“…Many young people still elect to opt out of science once it is no longer compulsory (OECD, 2009). There is much documented evidence for the possible reasons for this loss of interest in science such as the association between the cost of studying and the dropout rate (Van Langen & Dekker, 2005); the relationship between school selectivity and science uptake (Smithers & Robinson, 2007); the availability of separate sciences at GCSE level (Gill, Vidal Rodeiro, & Bell, 2009); well-qualified and enthusiastic teachers (Smithers & Robinson, 2007); and opportunities to experience science-related careers (Bennett, Lubben, & Hampden-Thompson, 2013). In addition to this, a large number of studies have identified individual factors influencing decisions to take up science such as gender (Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006), perceived usefulness of the subject (Jenkins & Nelson, 2005), enjoyment (Lyons, 2006) and perceptions of their ability (Vidal Rodeiro, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student experience of school science

Shirazi

2017

International Journal of Science Education

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This paper presents the findings of a two-phase mixed methods research study that explores the link between experiences of school science of post-16 students and their decisions to take up science for their higher studies. In the first phase, students aged 16-17 (n = 569) reflected on the past five years of their school science experience in a quasi-longitudinal approach to determine a typology of experiences. The second phase entailed data collection through interviews of a sample of these students (n = 55) to help triangulate and extend findings from the first phase. Students taking up science post-16 reported significantly more positive experiences of school science than students who had decided not to take science further. Of school-related factors influencing experiences of school science curriculum content was the most important followed by being interested and motivated in the subject. There is evidence that interest and motivation in science depend on teacher practice and the perception of science as a difficult subject. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Cross‐national differences in participating in tertiary science, technology, engineering and mathematics education

Cited by 98 publications

References 17 publications

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Polytechnic engineering mathematics: assessing its relevance to the productivity of industries in Uganda

Student experience of school science

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