– Ability was found to moderate the effects of interest fit on the behavioral outcomes, thus expanding the P-E fit framework.
– Gender moderates the effects of these individual difference predictors, such that the effects are weaker for females than for males in predicting STEM choice.
– For STEM persistence, the opposite effect was found: The relationship between ability and persistence is stronger for females than it is for males.
– Results supported the hypothesized moderating effect of ability on the relationship between interest fit and STEM choice for both STEM Science (vs. non-STEM) and STEM Quantitative (vs. non-STEM) when ACT was used to represent the construct of academic ability but not when HSGPA was used for the purpose.
– Statistically significant findings were obtained for the interaction effects between gender and ability (with both ACT and HSGPA)
– There was a statistically significant effect between interest fit and gender for STEM Quantitative (vs. non-STEM) but not for STEM Science (vs. non-STEM).
– The moderating effect of selectivity was found to be moderately strong.