scholarly journals STEM-aspiraties en studiekeuze in het secundair onderwijs in Vlaanderen: de intersectie van gender en etniciteit

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-140
Author(s):  
Lore Van Praag ◽  
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson ◽  
Peter A.J. Stevens ◽  
Mieke Van Houtte

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.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-114
Author(s):  
Dawn States

This article explores the popularity of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) movement and provides related statistical information as well as a projection of the future importance and impact of STEM. This article summarizes the significance and need for STEM both locally and nationally, focusing food science in public libraries to increase and maintain interest among secondary school students. This article furnishes an overview of how a food science program was implemented at Martin Library and how this same programming is scalable for any size library. In addition, this article provides an overview of how libraries across the nation and Martin library are providing vital STEM programs to communities. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilia Ellany Mohtar ◽  
Lilia Halim ◽  
Norshariani Abd Rahman ◽  
Siti Mistima Maat ◽  
Zanaton H. Iksan ◽  
...  

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12661
Author(s):  
Yanjun Zhang ◽  
Qianqian Xu ◽  
Jinghua Lao ◽  
Yan Shen

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Wright ◽  
Edward Reeves ◽  
John Williams ◽  
David Morrison-Love ◽  
Fiona Patrick ◽  
...  

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) areas are integral content disciplines in all economies. Although most countries have and continue to ensure quality science (S) and Mathematics (M) education for primary (elementary) and secondary school students, the technology (T) and engineering (E) content areas tend not to be regarded as core to national curricula in the same way that science and mathematics are regarded as essential. This article discusses efforts in various countries to better promote and integrate Technology and Engineering Education (TEE) in schools. This paper highlights common themes and argues that we can learn from each other’s efforts in TEE. We argue that dialogue across nations can help us to build international STEM education collaboration networks, better understand the nature of STEM and how to better engage pupils and students in STEM subjects, and work towards gaining inputs to national TEE policy that can leverage positive change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 739-752
Author(s):  
Hanife Gamze Hastürk ◽  

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is an approach that develops 21st century skills such as career choice in science and engineering, entrepreneurship, innovation, creative and critical thinking. The acronym STEM stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. When looking from the past to the present, it has been observed that there has been an increase in STEM studies. However, there was no study which was conducted on STEM education in Turkey mostly consisted of studies which aimed at determining the interests, attitudes and achievements of students and prospective teachers, and there was no study on the relationship between students' tendencies to technology in STEM education and their STEM perceptions. It is necessary for societies that can rapidly keep up with developing technology and innovations Therefore, in this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between the perceptions of secondary school students towards STEM fields, determining their attitudes towards technology, students' attitudes towards technology and its use in lessons, and the total perception levels of STEM fields and sub-dimensions. The study was completed in the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. The data of the study were analyzed by quantitative survey model. In the study, ‘Attitude towards Technology Scale’ and ‘STEM Perception Scale’ were used as data collection tools. In the tests applied, the data were analyzed using the Independent Sample t-test, ANOVA, Pearson Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis. According to data analysis and findings, it was determined that there was a moderately significant negative relationship between the students' attitude level towards technology, and the STEM perception level. In the light of the findings, the importance of STEM education was emphasized and recommendations were made to program designers, researchers and practitioners on this subject.


Author(s):  
Phuntsho Wangmo

Mathematical word problems are part of the school curriculum and are taught at all levels of education in Bhutan. However, it poses difficulties for many students because of the complexity of the solution process. There are various factors that affect students’ ability to solve mathematical word problems. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting Bhutanese secondary school students' ability to solve mathematical word problems. This study employed a qualitative case study approach. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Four mathematics teachers and four students were selected as participants based on purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that factors such as language proficiency, reading skills, and contextual understanding affect students' ability in solving mathematical word problems. Moreover, the language proficiency of students, as well as teachers, was the most important factor for solving mathematical word problems. The study recommends the Ministry of Education places more importance on reading activities across schools in Bhutan to enhance language proficiency.


Author(s):  
Ussenov Nurbol ◽  
Zhoya Kairat ◽  
Аbdimanapov Bakhadurkhan ◽  
Mamadiyarov Marat ◽  
Tleubergenova Kenjekey ◽  
...  

Use of technology in education enables students to be motivated and eager to participate in the lesson and is also a more effective tool in increasing motivation, encouraging students to the lesson and understanding the sub-ject. The aim of this study is to determine the views of secondary school students on the use of technology in geography lessons. Qualitative re-search method was used in this study. Semi-structured interviews were car-ried out with 32 students who took geography lessons in Kazakhstan dur-ing the 2018-2019 academic year. The semi-structured interview form de-veloped within the scope of this research was used as a data collection tool. Results of the study showed that secondary school students found tech-nology effective and funny to use in geography lessons. Projections, com-puters, tablets and smart phones were specified by the students as useful technological tools for teaching geography. Results of the study were dis-cussed with relevant literature and important implications for further re-search and practices were presented.


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