Exploring Crucial Factors of an Interest in STEM Career Model among Secondary School Students

This article explores why some Flemish secondary school students’ study choices are content-wise not in line with their career aspirations and, to some extent, follow gender and ethnic patterns. We use 83 semi-structured interviews, conducted with students in academic and technical tracks in three Flemish secondary schools. Compared to female pupils, male pupils are more likely to enrol in lower status tracks whose curricular substance prepares them for a STEM career (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Ethnic majority female pupils seem to adjust their study choices better to their aspirations, or the other way round. However, especially when changing track or field of study, ethnic majority female pupils are more likely to adapt their aspirations consistent with gender norms. While ethnic minority female pupils are more likely than ethnic majority female pupils to have STEM aspirations, their goals do not always seem to correspond with the study choices they have made. Additionally, perceived discrimination and family aspirations further impact both study choices and aspirations of ethnic minority pupils. Gendered study recommendations and choices, favouring male pupils in STEM careers, especially make that female pupils make study choices that are in terms of curriculum not always in line with their aspirations.

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Reliability and Validity of a Chinese Version of the STEM Attitude Scale for Primary and Secondary School Students

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132212661 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (22) ◽

pp. 12661

Author(s):

Yanjun Zhang ◽

Qianqian Xu ◽

Jinghua Lao ◽

Yan Shen

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Secondary School ◽

Secondary Schools ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Chinese Version ◽

School Students ◽

Stem Attitudes ◽

Stem Career ◽

Primary And Secondary School

In recent years, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education has received widespread attention from all over the world, and there are not many studies on STEM attitudes in China. One of the reasons is the lack of measurement tools that have been tested for reliability and validity. The Chinese version STEM attitudes scale for primary and secondary schools is a multidimensional scale that measures the STEM attitudes of primary and secondary school students. It consists of three subscales: STEM interest, 21st-century skills confidence, and STEM career interest. In order to test the reliability and validity of the scale application, as well as understand and improve the STEM attitudes of primary and secondary school students, the research team surveyed and collected 566 responses from primary and secondary school students in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shandong, Liaoning, and other places. After exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and a reliability and validity test, the scale finally retained 48 items. The scale supports a hypothetical five-factor model with good reliability and validity and can be used to assess STEM attitudes in Chinese primary and secondary schools. This research also shows that students’ STEM interests and STEM career interests showed clear variation among different genders, grades, and parental education levels.

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Motivation to Learn Science as a Mediator between Attitude towards STEM and the Development of STEM Career Aspiration among Secondary School Students

Universal Journal of Educational Research ◽

10.13189/ujer.2020.081318 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1A) ◽

pp. 138-146

Author(s):

Fazilah Razali ◽

Umi Kalthom Abd Manaf ◽

Othman Talib ◽

Siti Aishah Hassan

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Career Aspiration ◽

Motivation To Learn ◽

School Students ◽

Stem Career

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Evaluation of a Summer-School Program for Highly Gifted Secondary-School Students: The German Pupils Academy

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.18.3.214 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 214-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Heinz Neber ◽

Kurt A. Heller

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Summer School ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Gifted Students ◽

School Program ◽

School Students ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Regulatory Strategies ◽

Cognitive Framework

Summary The German Pupils Academy (Deutsche Schüler-Akademie) is a summer-school program for highly gifted secondary-school students. Three types of program evaluation were conducted. Input evaluation confirmed the participants as intellectually highly gifted students who are intrinsically motivated and interested to attend the courses offered at the summer school. Process evaluation focused on the courses attended by the participants as the most important component of the program. Accordingly, the instructional approaches meet the needs of highly gifted students for self-regulated and discovery oriented learning. The product or impact evaluation was based on a multivariate social-cognitive framework. The findings indicate that the program contributes to promoting motivational and cognitive prerequisites for transforming giftedness into excellent performances. To some extent, the positive effects on students' self-efficacy and self-regulatory strategies are due to qualities of the learning environments established by the courses.

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Ethnolinguistic Identity and Television Use in a Minority Language Setting

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000071 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 135-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jake Harwood ◽

Laszlo Vincze

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Minority Language ◽

German Language ◽

Tv Viewing ◽

School Students ◽

Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽

Ethnolinguistic Identity ◽

Television Use

Based on the model of Reid, Giles and Abrams (2004 , Zeitschrift für Medienpsychologie, 16, 17–25), this paper describes and analyzes the relation between television use and ethnolinguistic-coping strategies among German speakers in South Tyrol, Italy. The data were collected among secondary school students (N = 415) in 2011. The results indicated that the television use of the students was dominated by the German language. A mediation analysis revealed that TV viewing contributed to the perception of ethnolinguistic vitality, the permeability of intergroup boundaries, and status stability, which in turn affected ethnolinguistic-coping strategies of mobility (moving toward the outgroup), creativity (maintaining identity without confrontation), and competition (fighting for ingroup rights and respect). Findings and theoretical implications are discussed.

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Smart Girls, Dumb Boys!?

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000167 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 112-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Martin Latsch ◽

Bettina Hannover

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Stereotype Threat ◽

Gender Stereotypes ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Learning Goals ◽

School Students ◽

Compensatory Strategies ◽

Media Portrayal ◽

Stereotype Lift ◽

The Media

We investigated effects of the media’s portrayal of boys as “scholastic failures” on secondary school students. The negative portrayal induced stereotype threat (boys underperformed in reading), stereotype reactance (boys displayed stronger learning goals towards mathematics but not reading), and stereotype lift (girls performed better in reading but not in mathematics). Apparently, boys were motivated to disconfirm their group’s negative depiction, however, while they could successfully apply compensatory strategies when describing their learning goals, this motivation did not enable them to perform better. Overall the media portrayal thus contributes to the maintenance of gender stereotypes, by impairing boys’ and strengthening girls’ performance in female connoted domains and by prompting boys to align their learning goals to the gender connotation of the domain.

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