Gender differences in the effects of a utility-value intervention to help parents motivate adolescents in mathematics and science.

Abstract

A foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is critical for students’ college and career advancement, but many U.S. students fail to take advanced mathematics and science classes in high school. Research has neglected the potential role of parents in enhancing students’ motivation for pursuing STEM courses. Previous research has shown that parents’ values and expectancies may be associated with student motivation, but little research has assessed the influence of parents on adolescents through randomized experiments. Harackiewicz, Rozek, Hulleman, and Hyde (2012) documented an increase in adolescents’ STEM course-taking for students whose parents were assigned to a utility-value intervention in comparison to a control group. In this study, we examined whether that intervention was equally effective for boys and girls and examined factors that moderate and mediate the effect of the intervention on adolescent outcomes. The intervention was most effective in increasing STEM course-taking for high-achieving daughters and low-achieving sons, whereas the intervention did not help low-achieving daughters (prior achievement measured in terms of grade point average in 9th-grade STEM courses). Mediation analyses showed that changes in STEM utility value for mothers and adolescents mediated the effect of the intervention on 12th-grade STEM course-taking. These results are consistent with a model in which parents’ utility value plays a causal role in affecting adolescents’ achievement behavior in the STEM domain. The findings also indicate that utility-value interventions with parents can be effective for low-achieving boys and for high-achieving girls but suggest modifications in their use with low-achieving girls.

Utility-value intervention with parents increases students’ STEM preparation and career pursuit

“…Harackiewicz et al (32) found that this intervention increased students' STEM course-taking in the 11th and 12th grades of high school by approximately one semester of additional STEM course-taking on average. Moreover, Rozek et al (33) showed that those effects were mediated by changes in parents' and students' attitudes about STEM topics.…”

Friends and family: A literature review on how high school social groups influence advanced math and science coursetaking

“…The authors found a significant difference in the level of advanced math and science coursetaking between those in the intervention and control groups, with the former taking nearly a full semester more of mathematics and science (8.31 vs. 7.50 semesters). Rozek et al (2015) also used the WSFW data to examine how parents influenced their children's math coursetaking patterns in high school. Parents were randomly assigned to one of two groups.…”

The Responsibility of Counselor and Education in Millennium Era

“…Latar belakang keluarga, mencakup sosial ekonomi dan tingkat pendidikan orangtua. Tingkat pendidikan orangtua memiliki pengaruh terhadap aspirasi karier remaja (Archer, DeWitt, & Wong, 2014;Correa-Velez, Gifford, McMichael, & Sampson, 2017;Rimkute, Torppa, Eklund, Nurmi, & Lyytinen, 2014;Rozek, Hyde, Svoboda, Hulleman, & Harackiewicz, 2015;Sawitri, Creed, & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2014;Vuolo, Mortimer, & Staff, 2014). Hal tersebut diduga karena keluarga yang memiliki tingkat pendidikan yang tinggi, berpandangan bahwa pendidikan merupakan hal yang signifikan bagi kehidupan anaknya dan kesuksesan karier anak ke depannya (Rimkute et al, 2014;Sawitri et al, 2014;Vuolo et al, 2014).…”