– Lower levels of mathematics anxiety, higher levels of mathematics courses completed in high school, positive teacher experiences, and multiple instances of exposure to STEM fields while in middle and high school increased the likelihood that students would choose a STEM major.
– Lower levels of mathematics anxiety and being placed into higher-ability mathematics courses in middle and high school correlated with higher levels of mathematics self-efficacy.
– Higher levels of mathematics self-efficacy in middle and high school led to increased instances of pursuing a STEM career.
– Students enrolled in at least Calculus I while in high school were significantly more likely to choose a STEM major in college.
– Interviews revealed a larger percentage of STEM majors indicating positive mathematics teacher experiences than non-STEM majors.
2017 - An Exploration into the Potential Career Effects from Middle and High School Mathematics Experiences: A Mixed Methods Investigation into STEM Career Choice
This study used Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s (1994) social cognitive career theory (SCCT).
SCCT links potential causes of changes to students’ self-efficacy with their ultimate decision of whether or not to enter a STEM field.
The 433 participants in this study were sophomore students enrolled in varied degree programs in a public university. For the survey, simple random sampling was employed to obtain access to 433 students with diverse career paths, both within and outside of the STEM fields. Eight of these participants were then selected to participate in interviews, with three participants currently majoring in STEM fields, four majoring in non-STEM fields, and one student who switched his major from a STEM field to a non-STEM field.
First, the Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Anxiety Questionnaire (MSEAQ), featuring both closed and open-ended questions. Follow-up interviews were then conducted with some of the survey participants who pursued STEM fields, as well as some who chose other courses of study.
Survey:
DV: STEM major choice, STEM career intent
IV: demographic data of students’ education location, background in mathematics, year they were first enrolled in Algebra I, how many mathematics courses they took in middle and high school, highest mathematics course taken in high school, number of mathematics courses taken in college thus far, number of remaining mathematics courses needed to complete their intended major.
Interviews: The interview questions were designed to complement the survey questions in answering the proposed research questions. A semi-structured interview style was used to provide control of the direction of the responses while still allowing for the interviewees to share freely their experiences.