Staff matter: Gender differences in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) career interest development in adolescent youth

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning approach integrates four disciplines, namely science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, in solving everyday life problems and giving many learning experiences to students. This study aimed to analyze career interest in the field of STEM for prospective Indonesian Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA) teachers, studying the patterns of relationships between factors, preference levels, and what factors influence it. The research sample was 300 prospective MIPA teachers at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Lampung University. This work involved several stages as (1) adapting and transliterating STEM career interests instruments based on literature sources, (2) analyzing content validity based on expert judgment, (3) spreading tools to research samples and (4) evaluating research data results, assessing bivariate correlations, and the level of interest preference. The data obtained were analyzed statistically using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques, reliability and variance analysis, and Pearson product-moment correlation. The research results showed information regarding the items in the questionnaire were grouped into four factors, namely engineering career attitude, mathematics career attitude, science career attitude, technology career attitude with loading factors ranging from 0.575 to 0.848. All these factors were able to explain the career attitude of STEM to the sum of 62.43%. The science and mathematics career attitude is the dominant preference for prospective students of Mathematics and Natural Sciences teachers to have a career in the future. Furthermore, the instruments used are valid and reliable to be used to analyze STEM career attitudes for Mathematics and Natural Sciences teacher candidates.

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Factors Influencing Student STEM Career Choices: Gender Differences

Journal of Research in STEM Education ◽

10.51355/jstem.2018.44 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 179-192

Author(s):

Tandra Tyler-Wood ◽

Karen Johnson ◽

Deborah Cockerham

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Stepwise Multiple Regression ◽

Career Interest ◽

School Students ◽

Science Technology ◽

Subject Areas ◽

Males And Females ◽

Stem Career ◽

Gender Based

This study examined factors that influence middle school students’ dispositions towards science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Interest and ability in STEM subject areas were compared by gender, based on 182 middle school students’ responses to four different test instruments. While findings from t-tests indicated significant differences between males and females on mathematics interest scores, no significant differences were found in science, technology, engineering, or STEM career interest. Stepwise multiple regression showed that STEM variables explained 47% of the variance in boys pursuing a STEM career and 36% of the variance in girls. The findings of this study underscore the challenges that still exist in achieving equal gender representation in the STEM workforce, and suggest that adopting a constructivist learning approach may provide a foundation for girls to develop a more positive approach toward science, boost STEM awareness and interest, and increase STEM success.

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