– Gender and race/ethnicity are associated with science identity but not with discovery orientation.
– The positive association between discovery orientation and science identity is mediated by science interest, importance, and reflected appraisal.
– There are statistically significant differences in science interest between groups. Science interest is higher among white boys than for minority girls. Overall, science importance, perceived science ability, and science reflected appraisal means are also fairly high, particularly compared with science other-ID and science self-ID.
– Science importance is higher among white and minority boys than for white and minority girls. Perceived science ability is higher among white than minority students. White boys and girls have higher scores than minority boys and girls on the questions about parents and teachers, giving them positive messages about their science performance (reflected appraisal).
– White boys have significantly higher science other-ID than all other groups, while only white boys and minority girls differ significantly on science self-ID.
Current Selections
ClearDiscovery Orientation, Cognitive Schemas, and Disparities in Science Identity in Early Adolescence
The Impact of College- and University-run High School Summer Programs on Students’ End of High School STEM Career Aspirations
Descriptive statistics:
– Students of color were more heavily represented among high school summer program participants, relative to their counterparts in the control group.
– There was no statistically significant difference in parents with four-year college degrees between participants and nonparticipants.
– Students who participated in a high school STEM summer program were significantly more likely to have STEM tutoring, compared with nonparticipants.
– On average, summer program participants reported significantly higher SAT mathematics scores and took more mathematics courses than nonparticipants.
– Students who participated in a high school STEM summer program were more likely to have STEM career aspirations at both the beginning and end of high school.
Logistic Regressions:
– Students who reported STEM career aspirations at the beginning of high school had much greater odds of reporting STEM aspirations at the end of high school relative to their peers who did not.
– Males had 2.2 times greater odds of reporting end of high school STEM career aspirations relative to their female counterparts.
– The number of mathematics courses a student completed in high school was also a significant predictor of end of high school STEM career aspirations. A one course increase was associated with 1.2 times greater odds of reporting end of high school STEM career aspirations.
– Students’ SAT math scores were also statistically significant. A 100 point increase in SAT mathematics score was associated with a 26% increase in the odds of reporting end of high school STEM career aspirations.
– Students who participated in a high school STEM summer program had 1.4 times the odds of indicating end of high school STEM career aspirations relative to those who did not participate in a summer program
– Students who participated in a high school summer program that showed them the real-life relevance of STEM had odds that were 1.8 times those of students who did not participate in a program.
– Students who indicated that they participated in a summer program that did not show them the real-life relevance of STEM were statistically no different from students who did not participate in a program at all in terms of their end of high school STEM aspirations.
– There were no statistically significant interaction terms.
Identifying Taiwanese Teachers’ Perceived Self-efficacy for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Knowledge
-Male teachers outperformed female teachers in each dimension
of the survey.
-Teachers’ self-efficacy in synthesized knowledge of STEM had two mediating effects. One was in the relationship between self-efficacy in engineering design and attitudes toward STEM education. The other was in the relationship between self-efficacy in Mathematical Thinking and Attitudes toward STEM education. Displaying higher self-efficacy in Engineering Design or Mathematical Thinking is not sufficient to positively predict their attitudes toward STEM education. It is having teachers with higher self-efficacy in the synthesized knowledge of STEM that matters.
-Taiwan teachers tend to have relatively high self-efficacy in terms of their Mathematical Thinking knowledge.
-Taiwan teachers seem to manifest favorable Attitudes regarding STEM education.
-Twain teachers have relatively low confidence in their Engineering Design knowledge.
– Teachers’ Scientific Inquiry and Technology Use did not relate to their self-efficacy in Synthesized Knowledge of STEM and Attitudes toward STEM education.
– Only when teachers demonstrate higher confidence in combining technology use, engineering design, and mathematical thinking into a single learning topic of science in many ways will they believe in the positive impact of STEM education on students.
– When designing teachers’ professional development, the educational authorities concerned should be very intentional in facilitating teachers’ understanding of concepts and processes that are applied through engineering design and mathematical thinking activities.
The Relationship of STEM Attitudes and Career Interest
-The authors findings reinforce prior research that students across key demographic factors perceive biological/clinical and physical science career paths differently, resulting in two career clusters.
-The relationship of mathematics attitudes to career
interest varied by STEM career cluster.
-Findings were supportive of the conclusion that students’ attitudes towards STEM careers are not static over their primary and
secondary grades, stabilizing and leveling during their secondary years.
-Gender showed significantly different interest levels for the two career clusters: males higher for physical sciences and females higher for biological/clinical sciences.
-Racial/ethnic disparity in STEM career interests can be seen more readily in physical sciences and engineering than in the biological sciences.
-The authors’ work reinforces findings that students, as young as elementary grades, are forming attitudinal associations between their academic and life experience and future STEM careers.
Pressurizing the STEM Pipeline: an Expectancy-Value Theory Analysis of Youths' STEM Attitudes
Through the lens of expectancy-value theory (EVT), what are the potential factors that influence STEM attitudes in the context of computing intervention?
The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Advanced STEM Coursework in Female Secondary Students
1: How do female students’ levels of self-efficacy correlate with their decision to enroll in advanced STEM coursework and STEM extracurricular activities? 2: How does the CoP in and surrounding a small rural high school contribute to
female secondary students’ enrollment in advanced STEM coursework?
An Exploration of STEM, Entrepreneurship, and Impact on Girls in an Independent Day School
1) Examine the impact of a predominately female STEEM (science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship and mathematics) teaching staff on girls’ perceptions of STEEM. 2) Examine the impact of adding entrepreneurship to a STEM curriculum.
Public Understanding of Science and K-12 STEM Education Outcomes: Effects of Idaho Parents' Orientation Toward Science on Students' Attitudes Toward Science
The authors focus on the potential effects of parents’ attitudes toward science on their children’s STEM learning outcomes.
Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models
This paper asks whether exposure to female role models may be an effective way to induce more
women to major in a male-dominated field.
Expectancy-Value and Children’s Science Achievement: Parents Matter
– Teachers’ expectancy for children’s success in science did not significantly predict students’ fifth grade science achievement.
– Parents’ expectancy did predict students’ fifth grade science achievement.
– Children’s science self-efficacy significantly influenced science achievement scores. This was a weaker influence than the direct effect of parents’ expectancy of children’s success in science.
– None of the dependent variables showed significant difference between genders.
– The influence of parent expectancy on child self-efficacy for science and science achievement is equally strong for both boys and girls.
The Role of Motivation and Cognitive Engagement in Science Achievement
– Elementary students tend to perceive science classes as important, useful, and interesting.
– Students are likely to use various cognitive strategies in science classes.
– The mean science achievement score of 7.36 out of 14 revealed that students have a moderate level of science achievement.
– Self-efficacy and task-value significantly predicted students’ science achievement; cognitive engagement did not.
– Self-efficacy provided the strongest contribution to explaining science achievement. Task value makes the second strongest contribution.
– All independent variables were positively correlated with each other – higher levels of self-efficacy and task value were associated with higher levels of cognitive engagement.
– Student motivation (i.e., self-efficacy and task value) significantly contributed to the prediction of students’ science achievement.
– Positive and significant correlations were found among self-efficacy, task-value and cognitive engagement.
– Cognitive engagement failed to significantly predict students’ science achievement.
Early Experiences and Integration in the Persistence of First-Generation College Students in STEM and Non-STEM Majors
To what extent are demographic and academic background, commitment and support, early experiences and integration, and ï¬rst semester academic outcomes related to the persistence of First generation college students (FGCSs) based on major in physical sciences, engineering, math, and computer sciences (PEMC-STEM), other-STEM, and non-STEM)?.
Gender Differences in Learning Outcomes from the College Experiences of Engineering Students
1) How do curricular emphases differently affect engineering learning outcomes by gender? 2) How do instructional approaches differently affect engineering learning outcomes by gender? 3) How does participation in co-curricular experiences differently affect engineering learning outcomes by gender?
Understanding the Relationship Between Parental Education and STEM Course Taking Through Identity-Based and Expectancy-Value Theories of Motivation
This study investigates the relationships between expectancy-value and identity-based motivational variables by examining how these motivational variables predict STEM preparation (i.e., course taking) in high school and college.
Examining the Self-Efficacy of Community College STEM Majors: Factors Related to Four-Year Degree Attainment
This study examines what experiences can improve the self-efficacy of community college students as it relates to research and whether this has an impact on their long-term career plans to pursue a STEM career.
Growing the Roots of STEM Majors: Female Math and Science High School Faculty and the Participation of Students in STEM
What is the role of the demographics of high school faculty, more specifically the proportion of female math and science teachers, on college students’ decisions to declare and/or major in STEM?
Who Aspires to a Science Career? A Comparison of Survey Responses from Primary and Secondary School Students
1) Who holds science aspirations? 2) What factors seem to be connected to aspirations? 3) Are these patterns similar or different at different time points (in primary and secondary school)?
The Cumulative Disadvantages of First- and Second-Generation Segregation for Middle School Achievement
1) What was the extent of first- and second-generation segregation in CMS middle schools as of 1997? 2) What student- and school-level factors predicted middle school track placements and achievement in reading and mathematics? 3) Do segregated minority schools and disproportionate minority lower track levels contribute to students’ achievement exclusive of other factors? 4.Do first- and second-generation segregation operate to sequentially and cumulatively disadvantage those who experience it?
Ethnic Variation in Gender-STEM Stereotypes and STEM Participation: An Intersectional Approach
The authors examine ethnic variation in gender-
STEM stereotypes and STEM participation among African American and European American college students.
Supplemental Instruction: The Effect of Demographic and Academic Preparation Variables on Community College Student Academic Achievement in STEM-Related Fields
This study evaluated the influence of input and environment variables associated with participation in supplemental instruction (SI) on student achievement outcomes at a community college. In particular, the study evaluated the relationships between student demographics and academic preparation, faculty and SI member demographics, levels of participation in SI, and academic achievement.
Parental Support and High School Students’ Motivation in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics: Understanding Differences Among Latino and Caucasian Boys and Girls
The authors examine if a variety of parental behaviors predict students’ ability self-concepts in and value they place on biology, chemistry, and physics.
Factors Influencing Black Males' Preparation for College and Success in STEM Majors: A Mixed Methods Study
1) What specific factors influence Black males’ preparation for college? 2) What specific factors influence Black males’ success in STEM fields?
Belonging and Academic Engagement Among Undergraduate STEM Students: A Multi-institutional Study
1) Which levels of belonging are most consistently associated with behavioral engagement as well as emotional engagement after controlling for relevant factors such as self-efficacy? 2) What are the similarities and differences among the different types of institutions in terms of the relationships between belonging levels and engagement?
Effects of Student Body Racial and Ethnic Demographics on Community College Student Persistence: A Correlational Inferential Study
1) What is the effect of racial and ethnic community college student body composition on student persistence? 2) Does the racial and ethnic composition of a community college’s student body have differential effects on the persistence of students from different racial and ethnic groups? 3) What is the effect of racial and ethnic student body composition on student academic and social engagement?
"What Comes to Mind When You Think of Science? The Perfumery!": Documenting Science-Related Cultural Learning Pathways Across Contexts and Timescales
How do everyday moments – experienced across settings, pursuits, social groups, and time – result in scientific learning, expertise development, and identification?
Causal effect of intergroup contact on exclusionary attitudes
– Author reports a randomized controlled trial that assigns repeated intergroup contact between members of different ethnic groups. The contact results in exclusionary attitudes toward the outgroup.
– This experiment demonstrates that even very minor demographic
change causes strong exclusionary reactions.
– Exclusionary attitudes can be stimulated by even very minor, noninvasive demographic change: in this case, the introduction of only two persons. Overtly threatening behavior by newcomers is not a necessary component for the stimulation of exclusionary attitudes.
– Developed nations and politically liberal subnational units are expected to experience a politically conservative shift as international migration brings increased intergroup contact.
Predictors of Latina/o community college student vocational choice of STEM fields: Testing of the STEM-vocational choice mode
1) Are there statistically significant effects of exogenous factors associated with observed vocational interest on the dependent variable of vocational choice in STEM at transfer for community college students? 2) Will the exogenous and observed variables in the STEM-VC model serve as a successful predictive model for the intention to major in a STEM field at transfer for Latina/o community college students? For White students? 3) Are there significant differences between Latina/o and White student respondents in the final STEM-VC model measurement and pathway model and what are these differences between the two ethnic populations?
Longitudinal Analysis of the Relations Between Opportunities to Learn About Science and the Development of Interests Related to Science
The authors hypothesize that children’s developing interest in science emerges over time through coregulation between children’s interest and the informal science opportunities parents provide. Second, they suggest that this coregulation cycle may differ for boys and girls and this may ultimately account for some of the gender differences in science interest.
Intergroup Relations in Integrated Schools: A Glimpse Inside Interdistrict Magnet Schools
How does the extent and quality of intergroup contact experienced by students help to predict their perceptions of the academic environment in the school or their attitudes towards people from other groups (racial and ethnic).
The Earnings Benefits of Majoring in STEM Fields Among High Achieving Minority Students
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between majoring in a STEM ?eld in college, and early career earnings among high achieving minority students. Research questions: 1) What are the earnings premiums associated with majoring in STEM fields during college for racial/ethnic minority students? 2) To what extent does congruence between majors and jobs account for the earnings differences? 3) Is there an earnings premium associated with majoring and gaining employment in a STEM field and not gaining employment in a related occupation?
Friendship Groups, Personal Motivation, and Gender in Relation to High School Students’ STEM Career Interest
Friendship group characteristics, motivation, and gender were investigated in relation to adolescents’ science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career interest. First, the authors investigated the extent to which personal motivation and friendship group STEM climate predicted adolescents’ STEM career interest after controlling for gender and other background factors. They hypothesized that the effects of these variables would be domain-specific, such that the friendship group’s STEM climate and students’ sci-ence motivation would predict STEM career interest after controlling for the friendship group’s English climate and students’ English motivation. Finally, they investigated possible moderation effects.
Stability and Volatility of STEM Career Interest in High School: A Gender Study
To gauge how stable versus volatile the reports of boys’ and girls’ STEM career interests are over the course of high school.
Professional Role Confidence and Gendered Persistence in Engineering
This study examines behavioral and intentional persistence among students who enter an engineering major in college.
Stepping onto the STEM Pathway: Factors Affecting Talented Students' Declaration of STEM Majors in College
1) What are the college educational patterns and experiences of individuals talented in STEM? How do they affect the selection of a college major in STEM? How do they differ by age cohort? 2) What factors predict STEM majors in college?
Influences of Faculty Validation on Community College STEM Students' Persistence and Success
1) What is the relationship between demographic variables and validation scores for community college STEM students? 2) What is the relationship between demographic variables and academic success and persistence for community college STEM students? 3) What is the influence of validation scores on academic success and persistence based on continued enrollment for community college STEM students?