Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive factors that predispose secondary school students’ interest in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields in higher education. For this purpose, an already existing questionnaire was used and modified properly, according to the Greek educational system. The survey was attended by 301 secondary school students, who study in Piraeus, one of the largest cities in Greece. Research findings indicated that the principles of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) are well supported. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that such a number of variables had been examined, in order to support the SCCT. In particular, very few studies exist in literature—to the best of our knowledge—investigating the effect of more than four factors influencing students’ interest towards STEM higher studies. Learning experiences, students’ exposure to STEM activities within the school environment and outside of it (OR = 0.071, p = 0.002), as well as their involvement with high difficulty STEM courses (OR = 0.203, p = 0.038), appear to be positively correlated with the development of interest towards studies in the STEM fields. In addition, students from low-income families are more likely to follow STEM studies (OR = 0.198, p = 0.034). On the contrary, it has been revealed that parental educational background only supports the student’s decision to continue studies after high school, without specifying the educational field in higher education (OR = 0.769, p = 0.703; father’s educational level, OR = 0.698, p = 0.552; mother’s educational level). Data revealed that outcome expectations and self-efficacy (OR = 14.366, p = 0.005) are positively related to the procedure of students’ interest development to pursue STEM fields in higher education, while gender seems to be a non-regulatory factor (OR = 0.886, p = 0.831).
Highlights
Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is an important conceptual and theoretical scheme that supports the holistic study and exploration of those factors that act in the cognitive process of making educational and professional decisions
The great interest of girls’ preference for medicine eliminates the difference of under-representation in the remaining STEM fields and gender is not a regulatory factor, as SCCT claims. This is not impressive if we take into consideration that girls have a high degree of self-efficacy for schools in which their social mission is carried out, and Medicine is a STEM field of social character and a strong element of offering to fellow human beings [40,41]
It is worth mentioning that in the Competition PISA of 2015, which takes place every three years under the auspices of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), with a main focus on Natural Sciences and Mathematics-based STEM courses, Greek students aged 15 years have exhibited the same performance in the abovementioned subjects regardless of gender
Summary
Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is an important conceptual and theoretical scheme that supports the holistic study and exploration of those factors that act in the cognitive process of making educational and professional decisions. The term “self-efficacy” was first introduced by A. Bandura, who mentioned it in many studies, including that of the Social Learning Theory [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Many investigations about “self-efficacy” have been performed by other researchers [11,12]. The meaning of “self-efficacy” or “selfefficacy expectation” can be looked up in Social Cognitive Theory of Behavior [13,14], which assesses the person’s ability to define himself (human agency). That type of learning can lead to the development of the socio-cognitive mechanisms of an individual, in order to regulate their behavior for future success or performance
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