Key competencies acquired from STEM education: gender-differentiated parental expectations

Abstract

Parents’ expectations affect children’s key competencies acquired from STEM education, and influence their future career development. This study aimed to determine the influence of parents’ expectations on children’s key competencies gained through STEM education, with a particular focus on gender difference. A total of 736 parents (44% fathers and 56% mothers) of children aged 3–12 (50.4% boys and 49.6% girls) participated in a two-section survey and rated the degree of importance of each key competency. Subsequently, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the potential structure of the STEM-related competencies, and ANOVA was used to gain further insights into the gender difference tendency. Results targeted 10 most emphasized competencies which were clustered into four categories, namely the Innovation factor (Inquiring competency, Creativity competency), the Social factor (Cooperative competency, Expressing competency), the Making factor (Hands-on competency, Problem-solving competency, Anti-frustration competency), and the Learning factor (Thinking competency, Knowledge acquisition competency, Concentration competency). Results also indicated that the parents had significantly different expectations for boys and girls regarding the expressing, thinking, knowledge acquisition, concentration, and hands-on competencies. Fathers’ and mothers’ expectations only differed for children’s anti-frustration competency. These findings provide deeper insights into STEM-related competencies from parents’ viewpoints, and contribute a greater understanding of gender difference in STEM education.