An official website of the United States government
Abstract IntroductionParents' science support and adolescents' motivational beliefs are associated with adolescents' expectations for their future occupations; however, these associations have been mostly investigated among White, middle‐class samples. Framed by situated expectancy‐value theory, the current study investigated: (1) the associations between parents' science support in 9th grade and Latine adolescents' science intrinsic value, utility value, and STEM career expectations in 11th grade, and (2) whether these indicators and the relations among them differed by adolescents' gender and parents' education. MethodsStudy participants included Latine adolescents (n = 3060;Mage = 14.4 years old; 49% female) in the United States from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. ResultsAnalyses revealed a significant, positive association between parents' science support and Latine adolescents' science utility value. Additionally, there was a significant, positive association between parents' science support and Latinas' science intrinsic value, but not for Latinos' science intrinsic value. Latine adolescents' science utility value, but not their science intrinsic value, predicted their concurrent STEM career expectations. Though there were no significant mean level differences in adolescents' science utility value or parents' science support based on adolescents' gender, the measure of adolescents' science intrinsic value varied across girls and boys. Finally, adolescents whose parents had a college degree received greater science support from parents compared to adolescents whose parents had less education than a college degree. ConclusionFindings suggest parents' science support and adolescents' intrinsic and utility values have potential associations with Latine adolescents' STEM career expectations near the end of high school.
more »
« less
Stability and changes in high school students' STEM career expectations: Variability based on STEM support and parent education
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.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10335479
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of adolescence
- ISSN:
- 0140-1971
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Introduction The United States struggles with racial/ethnic disparities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) degrees and occupations. According to situated expectancy-value theory, the experience and knowledge parents gain through STEM degrees and occupations shape the STEM support they provide and relatedly their adolescents' STEM motivational beliefs. Methods We analyzed data from the High School Longitudinal Study (N = 14,000; 50% female; Mage = 14 years old at 9th grade), which is a recent U.S. data set that surveyed a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Results and Conclusions Results showed that parent STEM support in 9th grade and adolescent STEM motivational beliefs in 11th grade were lower in families where parents did not have a STEM degree/occupation than in families where at least one parent had a STEM degree/occupation. Our within-group analyses suggested that parents' STEM support was generally positively related to adolescents' STEM motivational beliefs among families where parents did not have a STEM degree/occupation for all racial/ethnic groups except Black adolescents. However, these relations were not significant among adolescents who had a parent STEM degree/occupation. Furthermore, although Asian and White adolescents' parents were more likely to hold a STEM degree/occupation than Latina/o and Black adolescents' parents, the associations between parent STEM support and adolescents' STEM motivational beliefs emerged for Asian, Latina/o, and White adolescents.more » « less
-
The racial/ethnic disparities and average declines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) motivation during adolescence are worrisome. Although STEM motivational beliefs are theorized to function in conjunction with one another, the unique patterns and how they change over time for different racial/ethnic groups remain understudied. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study ( N = 18,260), we identified four and five patterns of math and science motivational beliefs in 9th and 11th grade, respectively, and examined their prevalence among Asian, Black, Latina/o, White, and Multiracial adolescents. We found patterns with overall high/low beliefs, patterns with varying levels of motivational beliefs, and patterns characterized by domain differentiation. Then, we charted the stability and changes in those patterns from 9th to 11th grade for each racial/ethnic group and how the patterns at 11th grade were associated with adolescents’ STEM career expectations and high school math and science grade point averages.more » « less
-
The challenges faced by first-generation students, particularly within refugee communities, can be formidable as they aspire to attend an American university and pursue a professional career. These challenges include uncertainties in navigating the path from high school to college, limited awareness of various STEM career fields, and a lack of acquaintances who have successfully navigated similar paths. Complexities such as high school graduation and university admission requirements, coupled with few higher education connections, contribute to the frustrations experienced by parents and students. To address these issues, we present the results of a project aimed at promoting STEM aspirations, and enhancing the understanding of college navigation among refugee families residing in the United States. The project focused on parents and their children in grades 7-12 and was a collaboration between a large public university and leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations (ECBOs) representing local Burundian, Congolese, and Syrian communities. Results indicate the project positively affected students and parents’ STEM capital and college social capital, as well as students’ expectations regarding how fulfilling a STEM career might be.more » « less
-
Program leaders put a tremendous amount of thought into how they recruit students for engineering summer camps. Recruitment methods can include information sessions, established partnerships with school districts, and teacher or school counselor nominations of students. This study seeks to assess if the methods used to recruit students broaden participation or have any impact on students’ perceptions of engineering. Two identical week-long summer camps were hosted by the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in the summer of 2022. Camps were entirely free for all campers. A specific goal of the camp was to promote engineering as a career pathway for students from groups that have been historically excluded from STEM majors. Campers were rising 8th and 9th grade students in two cities near UT Austin; this age was intentionally identified as students who have sufficient STEM backgrounds to engage in meaningful engineering design challenges, and who are also at a critical inflection point with respect to decisions that put them on a trajectory to study engineering in college. Summer camp topics ranged from additive manufacturing to the chemical properties of water proofing, and students did activities such as constructing a prosthetic limb from recovered materials or designing an electronic dance game pad. In one camp session, students primarily found out about the camp by being nominated by counselors at their schools, with an intentional focus on recruiting students who might not otherwise be exposed to engineering. In the other camp session, parents signed up campers after hearing about the camp via information sent through the schools. All students who applied were accepted to the camps. Identical pre- and post-camp surveys asked campers questions about their knowledge of what engineers do, their interest in math and science, and what factors are important to them when choosing a career. Survey analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in answers to questions between the groups in the pre-camp surveys, but post-camp surveys show that these differences disappeared after participating in the summer camp. Students whose parents directly enrolled them in the camp had higher pre-camp interest in science and technology; thus, counselor nominations may be a method to recruit students who might not have been interested in engineering had they not attended the camp. Additionally, prior to participating, campers recruited via counselor nominations had a narrower view of what engineers do than the parent-enrolled campers, but after camp the two groups had similar perceptions of what engineers do. The results of this study confirm literature findings regarding the importance of exposing young learners to engineering as a profession and broaden their views of opportunities in this field. The recruitment methods used for these camps show that nomination-based recruitment methods have the potential for greater impact on changing students’ engineering trajectories.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12067
