– Self-efficacy levels did not correlate with the participants’ enrollment in advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities.
– Two themes emerged in interviews: the roles of the personal landscape (e.g., resilient mindset) and the social landscape (e.g., peer interactions).
– Positive social change may be achieved by supporting a greater percentage of women who can pursue STEM career opportunities.
– The correlation between the 35 participants’ self-efficacy levels and the number of advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities they enrolled was not statistically significant.
– The correlation between self-efficacy and the number of advanced science courses and between self-efficacy and the number of advanced STEM courses were not statistically significant.
– The theme of social landscape was derived from four repeating codes found throughout each of the interviews: role models, peers, school culture, and larger societal culture.
– The influence of the familial role model seems to be support and passive observation by participants.
– Participants discussed their teachers “passion,” “encouragement,” and “introduction of STEM
majors.” Interestingly, only one teacher was mentioned by name and the theme that emerged was more that teachers in general exposed students to a variety of courses and ideas rather than a defining characteristic of a type of teacher, for example gender, background, or postsecondary degree.