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The program For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) for young students incorporates project-based learning (PBL) with designing and building wireless-controlled robots. The students are guided by experts, mostly engineers. The FIRST organization determines the theme of the robot annual competition. The goal of this research is to characterize and evaluate the effect of the FIRST program on graduates’ self-efficacy, interpersonal skills, and career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The research participants included 297 FIRST graduates, mostly high schoolers, who responded to questionnaires, and five of them were interviewed. Analysis of the data showed that the FIRST program improved graduates’ interpersonal skills such as time management, teamwork skills, and self-efficacy, as well as had an impact on the graduates’ STEM career choices. The main factors impacting the graduates’ career choice was their exposure to robotics and to experts from the industry. The theoretical contribution is to the social cognitive theory (SCT) in the context of the FIRST program. Our study explains students’ career choice through correlations among students’ aspirations for choosing a career, their self-efficacy, their interpersonal skills, and their actual choice. The practical contribution lies in better understanding the robotic PBL program and expanding the STEM work force.

This paper presents a study that examines the effect of a graduate course titled “Selected topics in interpersonal communication skills” on the students’ interpersonal communication skills as part of their 21 st century skills. Subject to the COVID-19 constraints, the course was taught online in the winter semester of 2021 to 46 students, who practiced in four groups. The students, who were studying at the Technion a science and technology research university for a research-oriented graduate degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) subject, attended synchronous bi-weekly 1-h lectures and 1-h practice sessions. The two research questions were as follows: (1) Did the interpersonal communication skills of the participants change following their participation in the course, and if so, how? (2) What was the effect of online learning on the students' interpersonal communication skills of (a) written and oral communication, (b) peer evaluation and feedback, and (c) self-reflection? Research tools included students’ self-presentations, questionnaires, peer assessments, and reflections during the course. Analyzing the data quantitatively and qualitatively, we found that the graduate students improved their interpersonal communication skills and benefited from exposure to a variety of knowledge and research fields, contributing to a sense of pride in their university affiliation. The students suggested adding a practical component on providing constructive feedback and rendering the course mandatory to all the graduate students in the university. The contribution of this research is the creation and favorable assessment of an online course that develops interpersonal communication skills among graduate students from a variety of STEM faculties.

BackgroundFor Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics is an international, extra‐curricular program that fosters young students' interpersonal skills and career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). FIRST teams are guided by mentors, about half of whom are also mentees.PurposeTo describe and characterize FIRST mentors and their perceptions of their own interpersonal skills and STEM career choice and identify differences by mentor types and gender.MethodThe study participants included 261 FIRST mentors. A convergent mixed‐methods approach was used. Data was collected quantitatively via questionnaires and qualitatively via interviews. The analysis was guided by the social cognitive career theory (SCCT).ResultsFourteen categories were identified to describe and characterize the FIRST mentors. Nine were based on SCCT and five were new: influence of friends, interpersonal skill, personal contribution, challenges, and mentor‐as‐educator. Differences were found between three types of FIRST mentors: non‐FIRST mentors, graduate mentors, and mentee mentors. The correlations between factors and categories indicated that the mentors' perceptions were consistent with those of the mentees. The FIRST program impacted the STEM career choice of men more than women, and external motivation influenced women more than men.ConclusionsThe FIRST program contributes to developing its graduates' interpersonal skills and affects their STEM career choice. The study provides insights into mentors' influence on mentees' career choices, from which both genders benefit. Making FIRST available in schools as a widespread enrichment program is expected to foster students' STEM career choices, thereby contributing to the human resource reservoir of the high‐tech industry workforce.