– The findings suggest that, as early as the beginning of high school, students hold different motivational beliefs for biology, chemistry, and physics
– Caucasian boys reported higher parental behaviors and motivational beliefs compared to Latino boys, Latina girls, and Caucasian girls.
– Latina girls reported the lowest parental behaviors and motivational beliefs.
– Parent education and Spanish language use partially explained some of these differences suggesting ethnic differences are in part due to differences among Caucasians and Latinos on parent education and language use.
– Parents’ positivity, co-activity and school-focused behaviors predicted higher adolescent ability self-concepts and importance values in all three sciences for all adolescents in this study.
– High school students who do not enroll in science courses or who are not adequately motivated might inadvertently close the door to future educational and occupational STEM possibilities.
– Many of the gender and ethnic disparities prevalent in occupational pursuits are present at the beginning of high school. Parents can act as support of their adolescents because many of these behaviors do not require parents to be science experts.