Examination of factors predicting secondary students’ interest in tertiary STEM education

Chachashvili‐Bolotin, Svetlana; Milner-Bolotin, Marina; Lissitsa, Sabina

doi:10.1080/09500693.2016.1143137

Cited by 98 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Finally, limitations in survey length prevented us from assessing additional factors previously demonstrated to explain gender disparities in pSTEM pursuit. Perhaps not surprisingly, there are a number of other factors associated with pSTEM performance and/or persistence, including outcome expectations (e.g., Lent et al, 1996), prior pSTEM course experience (e.g., Chachashvili-Bolotin et al, 2016), self-perceived ability (Correll, 2001; Ma, 2011), peer influences (e.g., Crosnoe et al, 2008), role models (Dasgupta, 2011), and beliefs about the malleability of ability (Blackwell et al, 2007; Dweck, 2008). The relevance of other, unmeasured variables is particularly highlighted for male subjects in Study 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing High School Students’ Interest in pSTEM

Ito

McPherson

2018

Front. Psychol.

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The transition from high school to college is an important choice point for the pursuit of physical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pSTEM) career paths, with students in the United States switching from course selection that is proscribed by state graduation requirements in high school to choosing classes and paths of study more freely in college. Here two studies examine whether social factors identified to inhibit interest in pSTEM within college students similarly affect high school students, and in particular whether these factors could contribute to gender differences in interest in pursuing pSTEM. We find a lower sense of social and ability belonging and lower self-efficacy among female than male high school students pursuing pSTEM classes. In addition, for females but not males, social belonging significantly predicts intentions to continue to pursue pSTEM, highlighting the importance of considering whether low social belonging inhibits intentions to pursue pSTEM for female but not male students. We also find that perceptions of pSTEM fields as requiring innate brilliance more than hard work selectively discourage female students from intending to further pursue pSTEM. Together the studies highlight the potential impact of both subjective self-perceptions and perceptions about pSTEM fields on students’ interest in pSTEM and further identify processes that may selectively dissuade high school females from pursuing pSTEM career paths relative to males.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing High School Students’ Interest in pSTEM

Ito

McPherson

2018

Front. Psychol.

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“…Past work examining science students’ motivation and engagement from a self‐determination perspective has shown that students who experience feelings of relatedness and who express positive competence beliefs tend to continue and excel in STEM coursework (Chachashvili‐Bolotin, Milner‐Bolotin, & Lissitsa, ; Sahin, Ekmekci, & Waxman, ; Skinner, Saxton, Currie, & Shusterman, ). High levels of perceived competence can help maintain interest in higher education as high levels of perceived competence and high outcome expectations had a negative correlation with lack of interest in higher education (Chachashvili‐Bolotin et al., ). When studying the role of perceived competence on high school students’ decision to pursue a STEM major, Sahin and colleagues () found that students with high levels of science and math perceived competence were more likely to consider majoring in STEM in college.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The roles of social influences on student competence, relatedness, achievement, and retention in STEM

2018

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Students' perceptions of competence and relatedness are known to influence learning processes and achievement, and may have particular import for underrepresented science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learners. Sources of social support that contribute to undergraduate life science learners' perceived competence and relatedness were examined, as were achievement and retention outcomes influenced by these sources of support and selfdetermination theory components. Female, ethnically underrepresented, or first-generation students reported similar levels of perceived competence and relatedness in STEM compared to their majority counterparts at a large, urban university. However, social supports, competence, and relatedness were differentially important for these subgroups as predictors of achievement and intention to leave a science major. For the full sample, competence perceptions predicted greater achievement and lessened intentions to leave a major. Competence perceptions were primarily derived from contact with classmates, especially for underrepresented groups. Feelings of relatedness were specifically important for the retention of women pursuing science degrees. Contacts with STEM peers and classmates were sources of relatedness for majority groups, but classmate contact was not significant for underrepresented groups. Findings highlight the value of promoting competence and relatedness and the differing sources that these subgroups draw on to build the perceived competence and relatedness that can predict achievement and retention.

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“…Moreover, scholars and researchers have explored why females are under-represented in Computer Science [35,62]. Others have investigated the factors that influence students' intention to pursue a CS major [12,17,36]. Some of the studies exploring the factors behind female underrepresentation in CS found that cultural factors influence choices made by students.…”

Section: Factors Influencing the Choice To Study Computer Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

Alshahrani

Ross

Wood

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

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The aim of this research is to use Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to identify and understand reasons why students choose to study Computer Science (CS) at university. SCCT focuses on students' prior experience, social support, self-efficacy and outcome expectation. The research is partly motivated by the desire to increase female participation rates in CS, particularly in the UK. Policymakers can use the factors that both females and males identify as influencing their choice of studying CS to enhance the experiences of all students prior to coming to university, but female students in particular. The study uses a semi-structured interview with 17 mixed gender subjects currently studying CS at three Scottish universities. The findings are that social support from family, teachers, friends and mentors is a particularly important factor in choosing to study CS, especially for female subjects. The career paths offered by a CS degree is another major factor, not just the potential jobs, but also the general value of a CS education and the potential to make useful contributions to society. School education appeared to have limited influence, though exposure to problem solving, programming, online self-learning and internships are positive influences. The stereotypical view of CS students as 'geeks' is outdated and unhelpful -it is more appropriate to see them as 'analytical' or 'over-achievers'. Subjects make many suggestions for improving the CS education provided at school, especially to make it more attractive to females, including: make it compulsory, teach it earlier, include more programming and problem solving, and increase the visibility of female exemplars and role models.

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Examination of factors predicting secondary students’ interest in tertiary STEM education

Cited by 98 publications

References 37 publications

Factors Influencing High School Students’ Interest in pSTEM

Factors Influencing High School Students’ Interest in pSTEM

The roles of social influences on student competence, relatedness, achievement, and retention in STEM

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

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