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1. Correlation of STEM Interest and Career Intent in High-School Students

   https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2021.12  

   Nariman, Nahid; Davis, Jaymee Nanasi (January 2021, The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2021)

   Understanding high school students’ perceptions and dispositions toward STEM, and the role science and math self-efficacy play in establishing STEM career aspirations is imperative to preparing the STEM workforce of the future. Project STEMulate is an industry-aligned and technology-rich Problem-based Learning (PBL) model. The goal of this NSF ITEST grant-funded study (2018-2020) was to improve students’ attitudes towards STEM. Project STEMulate focuses on Upward Bound students in Hawaiˋi and was implemented at three sites: Maui, Hilo, and Oahu. The participants voluntarily selected to participate in this program. The current study reviews year one data collected on the impact of Project STEMulate on low-income and underrepresented and/or native Hawaiian students' STEM career interest, and their science self-efficacy. Students’ reactions to the STEM learning experience were extremely positive. 80% of students expressed a desire to pursue a career in STEM at the post test. High school students who listed their plan to pursue a career in STEM also showed a higher self-efficacy and motivation. Analysis of the results demonstrates this program was effective in empowering students with insights into careers, enhancing knowledge that would serve them in pursuit of a career in STEM. In addition, the project fostered a can-do attitude and increased students’ science self- efficacy. 

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2. Perceived Impact of COVID-19 and Other Factors on STEM Students’ Career Development

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.51355/jstem.2020.91  

   Desrochers, Marcie; Naybor, Deborah; Kelting, Daniel (December 2020, Journal of research in stem education)

   null (Ed.)

   In early 2020, colleges shifted abruptly from traditional in-person to remote distant instruction due to COVID-19 potentially exacerbating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students’ recruitment and retention. This preliminary study using survey methodology was conducted with STEM students at a small (700 students) private college to examine questions related to students’ perceptions of natural science careers, career decision-making factors, barriers influencing students’ career path, including effects of COVID-19 on career goals, mental health, and perceived quality of instruction. A Qualtrics® survey was sent to 180 STEM students, from which we received 53 responses (29.4% response rate). Consistent with other studies, family was one of the most important factors supporting their career path. Students had a relatively upbeat career outlook despite being in the middle of a global pandemic and were only moderately worried about the impact of COVID-19 on their future career. Despite these relatively positive outcomes, the abrupt switch to online instruction was viewed unfavorably by most respondents, who valued the hands-on learning experiences obtained with traditional in-person instruction. It is possible that respondents’ views of online instruction may improve over time as instructors become more adept at using new instructional tools. Future research should evaluate this aspect and whether students’ career goals change across time as the pandemic unfolds. 

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3. An Exploration of Math Attitudes and STEM Career Interests for Community College Students

   Howell, E.; Walkington, C. (January 2019, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   Survey data for community college algebra students reveals relationships between a student’s attitudes towards mathematics and the student’s STEM career interests. Results show that while students may not always have a clear understanding of the tasks related to a chosen STEM career area, the student’s math interest predicts interest in some STEM careers and not others. 

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4. Transfer Students’ Perception of STEM Faculty Dispositions Towards Gender Impacts Confidence and Success in STEM Career Pathways

   https://doi.org/10.1080/0047231X.2024.2415299  

   Bailey, Marne; Pifer, Jeannette; Wilkins, Martha; Balcerzak, Phyllis (October 2024, Journal of College Science Teaching)

   United States policy aims to bolster a declining interest in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), professions. This disinterest is especially notable in women, Latinx, Black and Indigenous people who make up first-generation Americans attending college. Removing barriers for those under-represented in the STEM professions could sustain a pipeline of undergraduates, and challenge inequity in cultural diversity in the STEM workforce. This study examines one program and its impact on transfer students in their pursuit of STEM careers. This is a qualitative analysis from 57 interviews of transfer students from community colleges into biological studies at a four-year university. Data were transcribed and coded, with the codes presented as evidence for themes that repeated within and across interviews. Codes and themes were analyzed to detect patterns in student views over four years. Results confirm the importance of financial and structural support as necessary but not sufficient to contradict the societal biases that contribute to low interest. Data support the importance of student views of the gender and disposition of faculty in the retention of students under-represented in STEM studies. The results are discussed in the context of two theories Stereotype Threat and the Imposter Syndrome. 

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5. Stability and changes in high school students' STEM career expectations: Variability based on STEM support and parent education

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12067  

   Starr, Christine R.; Ramos Carranza, Perla; Simpkins, Sandra D. (January 2022, Journal of adolescence)

   Introduction Why do some students maintain their career expectations in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), whereas others change their expectations? Using situated expectancy-value and social cognitive career theories, we sought to investigate the extent to which STEM support predicted changes in students' STEM career expectations during high school, and if these processes varied by whether the student had college educated or noncollege educated parents. Methods Using the nationally representative data set of the High School Longitudinal Study, we investigated the predictors of changes in US students' STEM career expectations from 9th to 11th grade (n = 13,100, 54% noncollege educated parents, 51% girls, 55% White, 21% Latinx, 12% Black). Results and Conclusions Students with noncollege educated parents were significantly more likely to change from STEM to non-STEM career expectations by 11th grade or to have stable non-STEM career expectations (compared to having stable STEM expectations or changing from non-STEM to STEM expectations). Additionally, students with noncollege educated parents were less likely to receive STEM support from parents and attend extracurricular activities compared to students with college educated parents. However, when examining the predictors among students with noncollege educated parents, students were more likely to maintain their expectations for a STEM career from 9th to 11th grade (compared to switching to a non-STEM career) if they had parental STEM support. Additionally, all students regardless of parents' level of education were more likely to maintain their expectations for a STEM career (vs. switching to a non-STEM career) through high school if they received teacher STEM support. Furthermore, students were more likely to develop STEM career expectations (vs. maintaining non-STEM career expectations) if they had parent STEM support. These findings highlight how parent and teacher STEM support may bolster STEM career expectations, particularly among students with noncollege educated parents. 

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