Early Exposure/Long-Term Gains: Encouraging High School Students to Pursue STEM Degrees and Careers

BackgroundFemales are underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields all over the world. To encourage more girls to choose STEM majors and careers, it is critical to increase their interest in STEM careers. Many studies have investigated the factors that influence females' entry into STEM fields, but few studies have explored the gender differences in the relationships between these factors. Therefore, based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study explored the gender differences in the effects of environmental factors (school education, informal education, social support, and media) on high school students' interest in STEM careers through the mediating roles of STEM self-efficacy and STEM careers perceptions.ResultsA questionnaire survey was conducted among 1240 high school students in Hunan Province, China, and the results of t-test, regression analysis, and structural equation model multi-group comparison showed that: Firstly, the scores of male students in all the dimensions except for STEM career perception were significantly higher than those of female students. Secondly, the environmental factor that had the greatest effect on male and female students' interest in STEM careers was different. Finally, there were gender differences in the mediating roles of STEM self-efficacy and STEM careers perceptions between environmental factors and interest in STEM careers.ConclusionsThis study revealed the influence mechanisms and gender differences in male and female students' interest in STEM careers in the context of Chinese Confucian culture, and the conclusions are as follows: (1) Male students' interest in STEM careers was significantly higher than that of female students; (2) The environmental factors that had the greatest effect on male and female students' interest in STEM careers were social support and media, respectively; and (3) Environmental factors could affect male students' interest in STEM careers through the mediating roles of STEM self-efficacy and STEM career perception, while environmental factors could affect female students' interest in STEM careers through the mediating role of STEM self-efficacy. Finally, the mediating mechanisms of STEM self-efficacy and STEM career perception between environmental factors and interest in STEM careers, and the importance of STEM self-efficacy for female students were discussed.

This study assessed elementary school students’ conceptions of STEM professions and its potential influence on STEM career interest, as well as the moderation effect of gender on the relationships between conceptions of STEM professionals and career interest in STEM. A total of 216 grade 3 through 5 students in Hong Kong participated in this study. They were asked to draw images of professionals in specific STEM areas, and complete questionnaires about their conceptions of STEM professionals and interests in STEM careers. Drawings were analyzed using graphic content analysis, and survey data were analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Analysis of drawings showed that the students had inadequate understanding of engineers or scientists in the air, food, and water area. Boys were more likely to hold gender-related stereotypes about STEM professionals than girls. Analysis of survey data revealed that students’ views about STEM career implications, STEM professionals’ personal aptitudes, and social relations significantly predicted their STEM career interest. Gender significantly moderated the association of Social relations and Interest, meaning that compared to boys, girls might express higher STEM career interest when they more strongly believed that STEM professionals are able to build good social relationships with others. This study has implications for the design and implementation of pertinent lessons on STEM for elementary schools.

ABSTRACTPre-college student participation in science fairs, robotics competitions, computing contests and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competitions increases every year in the United States. This is despite the fact that little is known about the relationship between STEM competition participation and career interest in STEM. Through logistic regressions, this study addresses three main research questions: Controlling for student background variables and prior STEM career interest, does participating in a STEM competition increase the likelihood of STEM career interest at the end of high school? Does the field of competition (robotics, engineering, science fair, information technology) a student participates in influence the sub-discipline of STEM career interest? And, what is the relationship between the number of competitions participated in and the probability of interest in a STEM career? The study uses data from the ‘Outreach Programs and Science Career Intentions’ survey (N = 15,847), a large-scale sample of university students enrolled in mandatory English courses. Our data reveal three results of interest. First, students who participate in STEM competitions are more likely to express interest in a STEM-related career at the end of high school than are students who do not participate, even when students’ prior career interest in STEM is controlled for. Second, the relationship between competition participation and interest in a STEM career appears to be domain specific. Third, the impact of competition participation on pursuit of a STEM career is three times stronger when students compete in more than one competition. These findings suggest that competitions are an effective way to foster career interest in specific STEM careers.

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.

Developing students’ interest in STEM careers in STEM education is important. This study explored the impacts of STEM instruction involving scientists or engineers on 224 Hong Kong students’ interests in STEM careers and their stereotypes about STEM professionals. The teachers who participated in professional development, namely “School-STEM professional collaboration”, implemented the STEM instruction with support from educational researchers and invited STEM experts. Throughout the STEM instruction, students were provided with STEM role models, and were engaged in authentic and hands-on activities to mimic the research work of invited STEM experts. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys and were analysed using descriptive statistics, t tests, and ANOVAs. The results revealed increased interest in STEM careers, and more positive perceptions of STEM professionals among the students after the instruction. In addition, the impacts of the instruction were found to be influenced by gender-matching between students and STEM professionals. Girls were more likely to improve their interests and alter stereotypes with exposure to female role models. It can be concluded that the STEM instruction diversifying the stereotypes of STEM people can be beneficial to students. This study has implications for supporting more effective STEM education in primary schools.

Background Students’ interest in STEM careers is governed by various factors: (i) family influences, (ii) out-of-school time learning experiences, (iii) inside-of-school learning experiences, and (iii) media influences. Previous studies often investigate the direct influence of these factors, collectively known as environmental factors, on students’ interest in STEM careers. Purpose This study explains the role of self-efficacy on environmental factors that affect students’ interest in STEM careers through a structural equation model. Sample This study involved 14-year-old secondary school students who were selected based on cluster sampling and a total of 1800 students were chosen. However, only 1485 responses were considered valid for analysis. Design and Method Survey design was utilised in the study. Structural equation modelling analysis was used to analyse the data. Result The results of the survey demonstrated that the effects of family influences and out-of-school time learning experiences on interest in STEM careers were fully mediated by self-efficacy except for media influences that affected interest both directly and indirectly via self-efficacy (partial mediator). Inside-of-school learning experiences did not affect self-efficacy and interest in STEM careers. Conclusion STEM learning experiences through informal modality are better predictors of students’ interest in STEM careers. Improving formal STEM learning is imperative to ensure that STEM careers are promoted to all school students in a systemic manner.

This study explores the relationship between career interests and self-efficacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among young girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Employing a quantitative research design with a correlational approach, we utilize the S-STEM survey to measure changes in students’ STEM subject efficacy and their interest in STEM careers. Our sample comprises 671 middle and high school female students from 49 schools, representing a diverse cross-section of the population. The findings indicate that female students exhibit high levels of STEM self-efficacy and have a strong preference for medicine as a career choice. While the overall interest in STEM careers among students is moderate, there are notable variations in interest across different STEM fields. Importantly, a positive and significant correlation was observed between female students’ interest in STEM careers and their self-efficacy in STEM. This research holds important implications for the promotion of STEM education and careers among female students. By recognizing the unique context of Saudi Arabia and the perspectives of young girls in Riyadh, this study offers a fresh perspective on the factors influencing STEM career aspirations and highlights the importance of fostering self-efficacy beliefs among female students.

This paper investigates the effect Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activities have on single-sex classes and how these experiences affect students’ attitudes toward STEM careers. To close the gap of underrepresentation of females in STEM, research suggests single-gender classes should be implemented. Single-gender classes have shown to improve female interest in STEM fields. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to assess female and male interest and attitudes toward STEM fields and careers. There were 97 participants in 7$^{th}$ through 12$^{th}$ grade who attended a one-week STEM Camp. Of those, 50 females participated in an all-female option, 23 males participated in an all-male option, and 25 campers participated in a co-ed option. Participants completed a survey using a Likert scale to rate their perceptions of STEM. The results were contrary to previous research indicating that both single-gender classes had lower affect toward engineering than the mixed gender group. Females in the mixed group rated their attitudes and interest toward STEM fields and careers statistically significantly higher than the females in the all-female group in three of the four constructs (knowledge, importance, and career). The findings support the inclusion of STEM PBL in classrooms because there were no significant differences between the class type after participating in a one-week STEM camp. Through the use of STEM PBLs, females’ interest in STEM careers is equal to male interest.

Studies have shown that various factors (the role of formal education, informal education, and community) contribute to the lack of participation in STEM and STEM careers. This research aimed to understand the multi pathways of factors contributing to the interest in STEM careers (STEM careers in physical sciences and STEM careers in life sciences). This research was a survey research which administered a questionnaire randomly to 1485 secondary school students (14 years of age). Data analysis was based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) to test the hypothesized model. A model containing five constructs, namely environmental factors (learning experiences, media, social influences), self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics respectively, perceptions of STEM careers and interest in physical sciences and life sciences STEM careers was proposed in this research. The results show that students’ interest in life sciences based careers is influence by their self-efficacy and perceptions of the career. Meanwhile, students’ interest in physical sciences based careers is influence only by their self-efficacy and not influence by their perceptions of the career. The need to improve students’ self-efficacy through STEM learning experiences is imperative to ensure continued interest in STEM careers. Key words: environmental factors, life sciences STEM careers, perceptions of STEM careers, physical sciences STEM careers, self-efficacy, social cognitive career theory.

Internationally, efforts to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers have been on the rise. It is often the goal of such efforts that increased interest in STEM careers should stimulate economic growth and enhance innovation. Scientific and educational organizations recommend that efforts to interest students in STEM majors and careers begin at the middle school level, a time when students are developing their own interests and recognizing their academic strengths. These factors have led scholars to call for instruments that effectively measure interest in STEM classes and careers, particularly for middle school students. In response, we leveraged the social cognitive career theory to develop a survey with subscales in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In this manuscript, we detail the six stages of development of the STEM Career Interest Survey. To investigate the instrument's reliability and psychometric properties, we administered this 44-item survey to over 1,000 middle school students (grades 6–8) who primarily were in rural, high-poverty districts in the southeastern USA. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the STEM-CIS is a strong, single factor instrument and also has four strong, discipline-specific subscales, which allow for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subscales to be administered separately or in combination. This instrument should prove helpful in research, evaluation, and professional development to measure STEM career interest in secondary level students.

BackgroundThe studies of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career interests have progressed substantially over the recent years. However, the influence of career awareness on STEM career interests is an area that requires further discussion. Evidently, Chinese adolescents have limited awareness and interest in STEM careers in the context of the Chinese cultural milieu, which can potentially constrain their future career trajectories. This study explored the influence of career awareness on the STEM career interests of Chinese high school students, examining the mediating roles of self-efficacy and outcome expectations for STEM courses in this relationship. Additionally, it analyzes the impact of gender on the average levels and interrelations of these variables. A sample of high school students from both eastern and western regions of China (N = 2542) was selected, and data was analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach.ResultsThe findings indicate that while STEM career awareness impacts various types of STEM career interests, minor differences exist in these effects. Specifically, the influence of STEM career awareness on analytical STEM career interests is entirely mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations in STEM courses. However, for life-survival and life-healthy STEM career interests, this mediation is only partial, with respective effects accounting for 39% and 45%. Notably, significant mean-level differences exist between male and female students in STEM career interests and self-efficacy in STEM courses, yet the relationships among these variables remain consistent across genders.ConclusionsThis study underscores the pivotal influence of career awareness in molding STEM career interests, shedding light on the mediating functions of self-efficacy and outcome expectations within STEM courses. Through a gender-based analysis, it offers valuable insights into the differing inclinations of male and female high school students in the STEM realm, while also revealing consistent patterns in the relationships among these variables across genders. These findings underscore the necessity for heightened efforts to bolster STEM career awareness and fortify self-efficacy and outcome expectations within STEM courses, particularly in domains characterized by notable gender disparities, aiming to foster equitable advancement within the STEM disciplines.

Despite pervasive educational efforts, student interest in STEM careers continues to decline in many countries. The present study seeks to better understand this phenomenon by examining how internal factors (gender) and external factors (school grades, grade level, family size) relate to Kazakh students' STEM career interests. To this end, a newly developed instrument (STEM Career Interest Survey) based on social cognitive career theory was used to assess interest in STEM careers among middle‐ and secondary students in Kazakhstan. The survey was completed by a sample of 396 Kazakh students in grades 7 to 12. Our statistical analyses revealed that (1) female students were generally less interested in STEM careers than male students; (2) students with higher grades in physics classes were significantly more interested in STEM careers than low‐performing students; (3) students at higher grade levels were generally more interested in STEM careers than those in lower grade levels; (4) the number of siblings was positively associated with student interest in mathematics careers; and, (5) family support and role models were significantly correlated with student STEM career interest. Our findings suggest that student development of interest in STEM careers constitutes an epigenetic phenomenon that involves complex interactions between internal factors (e.g., self‐efficacy) and external factors (e.g., gender stereotypes). Based on this, it is argued that the promotion of student interest in STEM careers is a multifaceted problem whose resolution requires, among other things, dispelling stereotypes in students' sociocultural context through systematic renegotiation of traditional gender‐technology relations characteristic of a country's culture.

Community college students face difficulties in mathematics courses and may not understand the relevance of the topics they are learning to their intended career. When such connections are not made, mathematics courses can become barriers to pursuit of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). In the present study, we assessed student interest in mathematics and various STEM career areas and students’ knowledge of ways mathematics was involved in STEM careers in order to better understand how these variables are related. We discovered that interest in mathematics predicted interest in many, but not all, categories of STEM and STEM-related careers. We also assessed how deeply the student was engaged with their current career pathway, and how this related to other variables. We found that students’ depth of interest in their chosen career path was only associated with mathematics interest for some STEM careers. Finally, students’ perceptions of how mathematics was used in their chosen career area predicted their interest in mathematics, and their interest in some STEM career areas.

Stereotypical views of STEM careers are major barriers to students choosing to engage with STEM subjects and careers, particularly for students who identify as female. Stereotypes include trait-based beliefs (e.g. people in STEM careers are geniuses, technology-obsessed), gender-based beliefs (e.g. males are more successful in STEM careers), and socio-economic status (SES)–based beliefs (e.g. upper-middle-class, well-educated families are better positioned to enter STEM careers). However, little is known about the differences between stereotypes in each STEM domain and the cultural factors that influence STEM stereotypes. This study describes students’ perceptions of careers within each individual STEM domain in terms of perceptions of traits, gender, and SES, and compares perceptions between students in Türkiye and Australia, two countries with significantly different distributions of genders within STEM professions. There was no significant difference between Australian and Turkish students regarding their beliefs about necessary traits for STEM careers. However, Australian students were more likely to believe that STEM careers were more accessible to higher SES families than Turkish students. Comparison of gendered views of STEM careers revealed biases about the suitability of these careers for males rather than females held by all Australian students, particularly males, and by Turkish males only.

Interest towards STEM and STEM careers is declining worldwide. Among the STEM related careers, the physics discipline has been the most affected in terms of numbers and imbalance of gender. This study investigates the role of self-efficacy in STEM towards STEM careers and Physics career based on gender and types of school. Findings showed that there is a positive and significant correlation between students’ STEM self-efficacy and interest towards all disciplines in STEM and Physics career. Boys showed high level of self-efficacy in engineering discipline while the girls’ associate more with science. Students from boarding schools showed higher self-efficacy and interest towards STEM careers compared to students from public schools. An implication of the study is that self-efficacy and interest in STEM careers are enhanced through engagement with STEM activities in and outside of school. Emphasis should be given to the role of counselors in making STEM careers relevant to students.