The Relationship of STEM Attitudes and Career Interest

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between attitudes toward all core STEM subjects and interest in STEM careers among 4th through 12th grade US students through the administration of the Student Attitudes toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey to over 15,000 public school students. The research developed a model based on expectancy-value theory that incorporates key demographic factors of age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our findings reinforce prior research that students across key demographic factors perceive biological/clinical and physical science career paths differently, resulting in two career clusters. Of interest, the relationship of mathematics attitudes to career interest varied by STEM career cluster. Findings were also supportive of the conclusion that students' attitudes towards STEM careers are not static over their primary and secondary grades, stabilizing and leveling during their secondary years. Gender showed significantly different interest levels for the two career clusters: males higher for physical sciences and females higher for biological/clinical sciences. Racial/ethnic disparity in STEM career interests can be seen more readily in physical sciences and engineering than in the biological sciences. Overall, our work reinforces findings that students, as young as elementary grades, are forming attitudinal associations between their academic and life experience and future STEM careers.

The Current State of High School Female and Minority Self-efficacy and Interest in STEM in Chatham County, Georgia

“…Despite gender equality in mathematics self-efficacy, females in our study still reported a lower interest in careers in the physical sciences including physics, computer science, and energy, and remained less interested in engineering and technology compared to males. These findings are similar to other studies that reported reduced female interest in the subject of physics by high school (Baram-Tsabari & Yarden, 2011) and lower attraction to core STEM careers based in physics, environmental work, mathematics, earth science, computer science, chemistry, energy, and engineering compared to males in grades 4-12 (Wiebe et al, 2018).…”

“…At first glance, the results from the current study are especially encouraging as connections have been established between self-efficacy in mathematics and the intent to major in a STEM field (Wang, 2013), especially in the physical sciences (Wiebe et al, 2018). Despite gender equality in mathematics self-efficacy, females in our study still reported a lower interest in careers in the physical sciences including physics, computer science, and energy, and remained less interested in engineering and technology compared to males.…”

“…This problem has been recognized nationally, and efforts have been made to increase participation from these groups. Our study aimed to report the current STEM self-efficacy and career interest of students in high school, the period of time when STEM self-efficacy and career plans are becoming concrete (Sadler et al, 2012;Wiebe et al, 2018).…”

“…Surprisingly, females in our study were not drawn to a career in medicine. Wiebe et al (2018) indicated that females had a stronger interest in Biologically-and Medically-related careers (Medicine, Medical sciences, Veterinary sciences, and Biology & Zoology) than males. Currently, medicine is a field that is wellpopulated by females (National Science Foundation, 2019).…”

“…Inquiries that specifically address STEM self-efficacy by race or ethnicity at the high school level are lacking (Wiebe et al, 2018). Given the efforts at the national level to increase the number of underrepresented groups pursuing STEM careers, we predicted that current high school females and racial minorities would report STEM self-efficacy and attraction to all STEM careers at a level equal to that of their majority peers.…”