Factors Influencing STEM Career Aspirations of Underrepresented High School Students

A shortage of female and minority students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers has prompted researchers and policy makers to examine the current STEM supply pipeline. This study examined factors influencing STEM career aspirations of a nationally representative sample of 9th‐grade students (N = 21,444). Characteristics of students who aspired to STEM careers and non‐STEM careers were examined. Guided by the career aspirations model (Mau & Bikos, 2000 ), the authors conducted logistic regression analyses to investigate variables predicting STEM career aspirations. Results indicated that race, gender, socioeconomic status, math interest, and science self‐efficacy were the most important predictors of STEM career aspirations. Counselors in school and related career services contexts are encouraged to consider these important factors in identifying high school students who are interested in STEM career choices, as well as in planning career interventions to facilitate their career paths. Future researchers could test the applicability of this model with middle school students or adults.     

Young children's career aspirations: Gender differences,STEM ambitions,and expected skill use

This study examines young children's career aspirations, gender differences in those aspirations, and children's perceptions of the amount of math and science used in careers. We asked 1634 students in first to third grades what job they wanted in the future and how much they thought they would use math or science in it. Career aspirations were sorted into 27 career categories, of which 12 showed significant gender differences. Notably, boys were more likely to indicate military, manual labor, and math/computer science careers, and girls were more likely to indicate stay at home parent, education, and animal care careers. Students aspiring to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers thought they would use science, but not math, more than non-STEM-aspiring students did. School counseling interventions focused on specific STEM subfields, and education highlighting links between school subjects and careers requirements may benefit students and reduce gender inequality in STEM fields.     

School counseling practices related to postsecondary STEM participation

This qualitative exploratory cross-case analysis analyzed the beliefs and practices of high school counselors related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academic advisement, postsecondary planning, and career participation. Interviews were conducted with high school counselors (N = 13) who were purposively sampled to represent a diversity of schools in terms of demographic variables. Findings indicated that high school counselors perceived that (a) sociocultural factors influenced student preparation for STEM, career planning, and decision making; (b) students’ STEM-related career goals and academic behaviors were sometimes misaligned, and academic advisement often mediated this tension; and (c) their professional STEM knowledge, beliefs, and practices were influenced by professional preparation, workplace characteristics, and their academic experiences. Implications include the need for early, sustained high school STEM counseling and academic advisement; accessible professional development in STEM preparation and careers to promote multiple pathways and reduce school counselor bias; and encouraging family involvement in STEM career decision making.     

The Influence of Career Planning on Career Thoughts in STEM‐Interested Undergraduates

Undergraduate career planning courses have shown efficacy in decreasing students’ negative career thoughts; however, universities have minimally applied these courses to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) populations. This study compared the influence of a STEM‐focused career planning course for undecided STEM students with a seminar course for decided STEM majors. An analysis of covariance with covariate adjustment revealed that undecided career planning students had lower adjusted mean scores on a measure of negative career thinking than the decided STEM majors after the first semester of college. The results provide support for the efficacy of STEM‐focused career planning courses and measuring negative career thoughts with STEM undergraduates.     

Implementation and evaluation of a biotechnology research experience for African-American high school students

Exposure to science content and development of excitement for scientific inquiry throughout the high school years are imperative in attracting students into the sciences. The purpose of this article is to report lessons learned and share best practices from the implementation and evaluation of a high school STEM program that aims to provide an authentic research experience for African-American students and expose them to the possibility and benefits of attaining advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields. Participants reported that enriching science experiences improved their college readiness and exposed them to STEM degree and career options. Formative evaluation results lead to the following lessons learned for best practice: 1) Relationships with high schools will facilitate buy-in; 2) Setting clear expectations and assigning responsibilities is essential; 3) Diversity and cultural sensitivity training is necessary; and 4) Programs of this nature need strong evaluation.     

Understanding African American Students' Experiences in STEM Education: An Ecological Systems Approach

Promoting racial and ethnic minority students' interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers remains a primary workforce goal. To advance this goal, this study examined, through an ecological lens, 18 African American high school seniors' perceptions of their experiences related to their aspirations for STEM careers. All students were enrolled in STEM programs. Using a phenomenological approach to analyze the outcomes of focus group interviews, the authors identified themes at the ontogenic, microsystem, and macrosystem levels. Environmental factors, such as counseling, family expectations, and available resources, played a substantial role in influencing the students' interests, experiences, and perceptions in their pursuits of STEM careers. Implications highlight the importance of counselors in encouraging students of diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM courses and for policy makers to provide resources that support students' STEM goals. Future research is needed to examine the longitudinal effects of high school STEM programs on diverse populations.     

Racism‐Related Stress and Ethnic Identity as Determinants of African American College Students' Career Aspirations

Drawing primarily on the construct of psychological buffer, the purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which racism‐related stress and ethnic identity are determinants of career aspirations. A total of 163 African American college students from a predominately White Midwestern university participated in the study. A moderation regression analysis was conducted. Results indicate that ethnic identity interacted with racism‐related stress (p= .04) to predict career aspirations. In other words, as racism‐related stress increases in the context of low identity development, career aspirations decrease. Conversely, as perceived racism increases in the context of high identity development, career aspirations increase. Implications for professionals and future research in the field of career counseling are discussed.     

Predicting STEM Major and Career Intentions With the Theory of Planned Behavior

This investigation predicted ACT‐tested 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students’ intentions to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college majors and STEM careers using a measure of mathematics beliefs and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB states that the best predictor of behavior is the intention to perform that behavior, and intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Students (N = 1,958) from 11th grade (48%) or 12th grade (52%) completed the measure and also indicated their intended college major and career. Results revealed that TPB predicted STEM major and career choice incrementally over a host of additional variables. More specifically, attitude and intention were the most predictive components. Although results were similar for male and female participants, attitudes and interests were somewhat more predictive for female than for male participants. Intervention possibilities and implications for future research were discussed.     

Rural Appalachian High School Students’ College‐Going and STEMM Perceptions

The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) variables related to college‐going and science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) careers in 10th and 11th graders (N = 892) attending 3 rural Appalachian high schools. The authors examined differences in perceptions related to gender, prospective 1st‐generation college student status, and the presence or absence of aspirations to pursue a STEMM career. Young women and young men scored similarly on all but 1 dependent variable, college‐going self‐efficacy (young women scored higher). Students who had STEMM career aspirations had higher scores on every measure than those who did not. Results suggest examining a 3rd prospective 1st‐generation college student status group—students who are unsure of their parents’ education level—as a distinct group in future research. By examining the college‐going and STEMM attitudes of rural Appalachian high school students, this study advances the literature and informs practitioners on reducing educational and vocational inequalities in this region.     

Predicting Undergraduate Student Retention in STEM Majors Based on Career Development Factors

A research gap exists with regard to examining the influence of career interventions and career readiness assessments on student retention in college majors related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To address this gap, the authors examined 3 variables as potential predictors of retention in STEM‐related majors: (a) a STEM‐focused career planning intervention, (b) students' initial major declarations, and (c) changes in scores on a measure of career readiness. Results revealed that all 3 independent variables were significant predictors of STEM retention but did not accurately predict students who would not be retained. These results have implications for undergraduate STEM initiatives, college counselors and career advisors, and researchers investigating the predictors of STEM retention. Future research should include additional predictor variables.     

Viewing Adolescents' Career Futures Through the Lenses of Socioeconomic Status and Social Class

This study examined socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived social class as predictors of educational and occupational aspirations and expectations in a sample of 100 high school students from 2 midwestern high schools. SES was measured using caregivers' occupation and education, and subjective social status was assessed using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status–Youth Version (Goodman et al., 2001 SES and perceived social class made independent contributions to educational aspirations, whereas SES made an independent contribution to occupational aspirations and expectations. The authors discuss the importance of SES and social class in career development theory and research and provide practical implications based on the present findings. Overall, this study highlights the importance of measuring SES and social class as distinct constructs and the need for future work to identify the unique impacts of these variables.     

Toward a Framework for Multicultural STEM‐Focused Career Interventions

Numerous federal and national commissions have called for policies, funds, and initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and education investments to create a significantly larger, more diverse talent pool of individuals who pursue technical careers. Career development professionals are poised to contribute to the equity discourse about broadening STEM participation. However, few are aware of STEM‐related career development matters, career opportunities and pathways, or strategies for promoting STEM pursuits. The author summarizes STEM education and workforce trends and articulates an equity imperative for broadening and diversifying STEM participation. The author then offers a multicultural STEM‐focused career development framework to encourage career development professionals’ knowledge and awareness of STEM education and careers and delineates considerations for practice aimed at increasing the attainment and achievement of diverse groups in STEM fields.     

Using Embeddedness Theory to Understand and Promote Persistence in STEM Majors

Student retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors is a national concern. Research typically emphasizes attrition in STEM fields by examining factors driving students to switch career paths. This study used embeddedness theory to instead focus on factors that better anchor students within their majors. Focus groups were conducted with 21 junior and senior students majoring in STEM to contextualize the 3 tenets of embeddedness: fit, links, and sacrifice. Results supported embeddedness theory as a viable framework for understanding and promoting STEM student retention because fit, links, and sacrifice were all cited as factors that enriched the student experience. Gender differences suggested a heightened sense of pride for women as compared with men who pursue STEM degrees. Results inform ways to contextualize quantitative measures of STEM embeddedness. To facilitate retention, career counselors, instructors, and others may assist students to frame challenge as normal among persisting STEM upperclassmen.     

Gender differences in young adults’ inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the future for family reasons: comparative study with university students from Nairobi,Madrid, and Reykjavik

This article addresses the question of to what extent young people show an inclination to accept some sacrifice in their career progression in the future in order to reach a better work–family balance. Data come from a survey conducted among a sample of 2383 university students who attended three universities: University of Nairobi, University of Iceland, and Complutense University of Madrid. After building a set of indicators about career and family involvement aspirations of respondents, and after conducting a statistical and regression analysis, this research shows that young women (on average) still have a greater predisposition than young men to make sacrifices in the future in their working careers in order to achieve a better work–family balance. Moreover, having a high degree of leadership aspirations and belonging to an egalitarian household tend to reduce the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities, whereas having a high inclination to be involved in childcare in the future and having the perception of a future work–family conflict tend to increase it. Gender attitudes have a differential effect on female and male students: having traditional gender attitudes tends to increase the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the case of female students and reduce it in the case of male students.     

The career aspirations and action behaviours of Australian adolescents in out-of-home-care

We surveyed 202 adolescents who were in out-of-home care, and compared them with 202 adolescents not in care (matched for age, gender and school achievement) on career-related aspirations (occupational aspirations, educational aspirations, life barriers) and career action behaviours (career exploration, career planning). The out-of-home care adolescents reported lower occupational aspirations, less career planning, more career barriers, lower educational aspirations for themselves, lower parental aspirations, and more school engagement. Further, career exploration was lower for out-of-home care children who had higher aspirations, lower self-efficacy, parents who communicated higher aspirations, and low aspiring friends. Results are discussed in the context of providing career development and supports for out-of-home care adolescents so that their career aspirations and behaviours can mirror more normative levels.     

Exploring disjuncture: elite students’ use of cosmopolitanism

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses current debates around elites, education and cosmopolitanism. It studies disjuncture (and interaction) between cosmopolitan practices and aspirations on the basis of 24 interviews with international students at a British elite university. Specifically, the article discusses four cases of elite students’ use of cosmopolitanism by drawing on Ann Swidler’s concepts of ‘strategies of action’ and her distinction between ‘unsettled’ and ‘settled’ lives. The case studies demonstrate that individuals, who find themselves in an unsettled phase of their life, may mobilise cosmopolitanism either to set themselves new life goals or to closely examine their lives. In settled lives, cosmopolitanism may be integrated in established strategies of action but it may also be used to (rhetorically) defend a stable orientation. This typology of four different ways of using cosmopolitanism complements previous research by exploring in depth the various forms in which ambivalences of students’ engagements with cosmopolitanism may arise.     

Middle School Children's Career Aspirations: Relationship to Adult Occupations and Gender

The authors explored the relationship between the career aspirations of 89 preadolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds and the actual occupations of the working adults in their homes with regard to status, job gender identification, and interest ( Holland, 1997 ). There was a significant relationship between boys’ career aspirations and the occupations of the working male adults in their homes, specifically job gender identification and interest. More adult males had stereotypically male jobs—classified as Realistic by Holland (1997) —that was mirrored in the preadolescent boys’ career aspirations. There were no significant matches between the boys and working women or with the girls and the working adults of either gender.     

The emotional costs of computers: an expectancy-value theory analysis of predominantly low-socioeconomic status minority students’ STEM attitudes

There is a strong push to increase American students’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) careers. However, minority and female students remain underrepresented in the STEM fields. Therefore, it is essential that we continue to examine the potential factors that both incite and dissuade STEM interest. We apply Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) to examine STEM attitudes of predominantly low-socioeconomic status minority elementary school students over the course of a computing intervention. Furthermore, we integrate the digital inequality mental access conceptualization of ‘emotional costs’ into the EVT model in order to predict students’ negative STEM attitudes. Data are from a large-scale computing intervention that took place in a primarily minority, high poverty, urban elementary school district located in the southeastern USA. Results indicate that positive expectancies for success and subjective task values predict students’ positive STEM attitudes. Emotional costs toward technology primarily predict negative STEM attitudes. Students’ expectancies/values and emotional costs may have a ‘push-and-pull’ effect on the formation of STEM attitudes. This study successfully links digital disparities to STEM disparities by integrating the digital inequality concept of emotional costs. Practically, we conclude that future computing interventions should increase students’ academic-related expectancies and values while also minimizing their emotional costs in order to address both digital and STEM inequalities. Theoretically, we conclude that broad conceptualizations of emotional costs should be included in future studies to help explain negative attitudes/motivations toward STEM-related topics.     

Academic Procrastination in STEM: Interactive Effects of Stereotype Threat and Achievement Goals

A host of academic outcomes have been investigated as consequences of stereotype threat for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including attrition and decreased academic performance. However, the role of a potentially important precursor to these negative outcomes—academic procrastination—remains unclear. The present research sought to address this issue. University students (N = 223) enrolled in biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology courses participated in the study. Mastery approach, mastery avoidance, and performance avoidance achievement goals were hypothesized to moderate the effect of stereotype threat on academic procrastination. Results indicated significant interactions for women but not for men; however, interactions were not in the hypothesized direction for the avoidance goal moderators. Mastery approach goals exerted a significant buffering effect on the stereotype threat–academic procrastination relationship, but, contrary to prediction, both mastery avoidance and performance avoidance goals exerted a significant buffering effect. Implications for career‐related outcomes among women in STEM are discussed.     

Social Capital and Residential Decision Making Among Rural and Nonrural College Graduates

Due to the low demand for highly educated workers in rural areas, high‐achieving rural students have been portrayed as having to pick between staying close to home and facing limited economic opportunities or leaving to pursue higher education and socioeconomic advancement. But what of those who want both—college degree and return to rural living? Comparing the experiences of rural graduates who returned to rural locales with those who out‐migrated and nonrural graduates across one predominantly rural state, this study explores how social capital matters in the residential decision‐making process. Proximity to work and family were the primary factors determining adult residence. Sense of place—but not attachment to a specific community—also mattered, especially for rural graduates. Family, school, and community social capital were more likely to play a role in career development for rural students, as career aspirations during adolescence followed by career‐driven college choices created pathways for rural return. Findings underscore the importance of analyzing rural return from a regional lens, as respondents reframed lifestyle elements researchers tend to portray as mutually exclusive—rural lifestyle, proximity to family, and professional career—as compatible by employing broad and flexible definitions of proximity and place.