Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies

The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive factors that predispose secondary school students’ interest in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields in higher education. For this purpose, an already existing questionnaire was used and modified properly, acco...

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Autores principales:	Athina G. Mitsopoulou, Evangelia A. Pavlatou
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) STEM activities self-efficacy motivation movement learning experiences Education L
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6c8bc92a4ae84b278f267fbeb4717933
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6c8bc92a4ae84b278f267fbeb47179332021-11-25T17:23:54ZFactors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies10.3390/educsci111107462227-7102https://doaj.org/article/6c8bc92a4ae84b278f267fbeb47179332021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/746https://doaj.org/toc/2227-7102The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive factors that predispose secondary school students’ interest in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields in higher education. For this purpose, an already existing questionnaire was used and modified properly, according to the Greek educational system. The survey was attended by 301 secondary school students, who study in Piraeus, one of the largest cities in Greece. Research findings indicated that the principles of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) are well supported. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that such a number of variables had been examined, in order to support the SCCT. In particular, very few studies exist in literature—to the best of our knowledge—investigating the effect of more than four factors influencing students’ interest towards STEM higher studies. Learning experiences, students’ exposure to STEM activities within the school environment and outside of it (OR = 0.071, <i>p</i> = 0.002), as well as their involvement with high difficulty STEM courses (OR = 0.203, <i>p</i> = 0.038), appear to be positively correlated with the development of interest towards studies in the STEM fields. In addition, students from low-income families are more likely to follow STEM studies (OR = 0.198, <i>p</i> = 0.034). On the contrary, it has been revealed that parental educational background only supports the student’s decision to continue studies after high school, without specifying the educational field in higher education (OR = 0.769, <i>p</i> = 0.703; father’s educational level, OR = 0.698, <i>p</i> = 0.552; mother’s educational level). Data revealed that outcome expectations and self-efficacy (OR = 14.366, <i>p</i> = 0.005) are positively related to the procedure of students’ interest development to pursue STEM fields in higher education, while gender seems to be a non-regulatory factor (OR = 0.886, <i>p</i> = 0.831).Athina G. MitsopoulouEvangelia A. PavlatouMDPI AGarticleSocial Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)STEM activitiesself-efficacymotivation movementlearning experiencesEducationLENEducation Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 746, p 746 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) STEM activities self-efficacy motivation movement learning experiences Education L
spellingShingle	Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) STEM activities self-efficacy motivation movement learning experiences Education L Athina G. Mitsopoulou Evangelia A. Pavlatou Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
description	The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive factors that predispose secondary school students’ interest in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields in higher education. For this purpose, an already existing questionnaire was used and modified properly, according to the Greek educational system. The survey was attended by 301 secondary school students, who study in Piraeus, one of the largest cities in Greece. Research findings indicated that the principles of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) are well supported. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that such a number of variables had been examined, in order to support the SCCT. In particular, very few studies exist in literature—to the best of our knowledge—investigating the effect of more than four factors influencing students’ interest towards STEM higher studies. Learning experiences, students’ exposure to STEM activities within the school environment and outside of it (OR = 0.071, <i>p</i> = 0.002), as well as their involvement with high difficulty STEM courses (OR = 0.203, <i>p</i> = 0.038), appear to be positively correlated with the development of interest towards studies in the STEM fields. In addition, students from low-income families are more likely to follow STEM studies (OR = 0.198, <i>p</i> = 0.034). On the contrary, it has been revealed that parental educational background only supports the student’s decision to continue studies after high school, without specifying the educational field in higher education (OR = 0.769, <i>p</i> = 0.703; father’s educational level, OR = 0.698, <i>p</i> = 0.552; mother’s educational level). Data revealed that outcome expectations and self-efficacy (OR = 14.366, <i>p</i> = 0.005) are positively related to the procedure of students’ interest development to pursue STEM fields in higher education, while gender seems to be a non-regulatory factor (OR = 0.886, <i>p</i> = 0.831).
format	article
author	Athina G. Mitsopoulou Evangelia A. Pavlatou
author_facet	Athina G. Mitsopoulou Evangelia A. Pavlatou
author_sort	Athina G. Mitsopoulou
title	Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
title_short	Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
title_full	Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
title_fullStr	Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
title_full_unstemmed	Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies
title_sort	factors associated with the development of secondary school students’ interest towards stem studies
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6c8bc92a4ae84b278f267fbeb4717933
work_keys_str_mv	AT athinagmitsopoulou factorsassociatedwiththedevelopmentofsecondaryschoolstudentsinteresttowardsstemstudies AT evangeliaapavlatou factorsassociatedwiththedevelopmentofsecondaryschoolstudentsinteresttowardsstemstudies
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Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies

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