Adolescents’ Beliefs about Math Ability and Their Relations to STEM Career Attainment: Joint Consideration of Race/ethnicity and Gender

Abstract

Much of the workforce demand in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States goes unmet, and females and racial/ethnic minorities are vastly underrepresented in these fields. To understand the psychological antecedents for STEM career attainment, this study took an intersectional approach and examined racial/ethnic and gender differences in youth's math-related ability beliefs-growth mindset, self-concept, and career expectancy-and their longitudinal relations to STEM career attainment. Specifically, the study utilized nationally representative data of 10th graders over 10 years (n ~ = 14,320, M = 16.46, 50.4% female; 60.6% White, 15.5% Latinx, 14.1% Black, 9.8% Asian). The results indicated that youth's math-related ability beliefs positively predicted their later STEM career outcomes. Furthermore, female adolescents' math self-concept was more negative than male adolescents among Whites and Latinxs but not among Blacks and Asians. Black adolescents did not fully garner the advantage of having positive self-concept. Finally, high school math achievement did not predict Latina and Black youth's STEM career expectancy. The current findings inform future interventions that different ability beliefs may need to be targeted for each race/ethnicity and gender.

Gendered Decision-Making About Mathematics Courses: Contributions of Self-Perceptions, Domain-Perceptions, and Sociocultural Factors

“…The results from the survey with respect to growth versus fixed mindset orientations also align with the findings of previous studies indicating that girls hold more fixed mindset views than boys (Hwang et al, 2019;Seo et al, 2019). Irrespective of mathematics achievement level, girls had a stronger tendency than boys to take the view that some people are born with mathematics ability, as opposed to the alternative perspective that mathematics ability can be learned.…”

“…For example, fixed mindsets are more likely to undermine interest in a subject, while growth mindsets are more likely to promote feelings of competence and motivation to learn more . Girls have been described as more likely to hold fixed mindsets in mathematics than boys (Degol, Wang, Zhang, & Allerton, 2018;Dweck, 2013;Hwang, Reyes, & Eccles, 2019;Seo, Shen, & Alfaro, 2019), partly attributed to the possibility that in an environment in which fixed ability views predominate, negative views about the self can be thought of as unchangeable (Good, 2012;Pietri et al, 2019). Given this, it remains likely that the relationship between gender, mindset, task value, and aspirations is complex (Degol et al, 2018) and that further research to explore the mechanisms that underlie gender differences in mindsets and motivation is warranted.…”

Only a Burden for Females in Math? Gender and Domain Differences in the Relation Between Adolescents’ Fixed Mindsets and Motivation

“…Basically, they hold stronger fixed mindsets of math ability than of abilities in other domains. Moreover, students with low math competencies (Seo et al 2019), low prior math achievement (Degol et al 2018), and high socioeconomic status (e.g., Seo et al 2019) as well as White US students compared to Hispanic or Asian US students (Hwang et al 2019) were more likely to endorse fixed mindsets of math ability. These studies suggest that students' prior achievement, domainspecific competencies, socioeconomic and cultural background might be confounded with their mindsets in math, and should therefore be statistically controlled for when investigating students' mindsets in math.…”

Increasing Hispanic Students’ Awareness and Use of Floor-robots through Structured Activities

“…Increasing students' awareness and use of new technologies such as educational robots is important, especially for female and minority students who are under-represented in STEM career areas (Mau & Li, 2018;Seo et al, 2019). In this study, the use of floor-robots engaged students in critical-thinking and problem-solving, reinforced content and standards, and provided students with positive, collaborative experiences while working with peers.…”

“…At the present time, female and minority students are under-represented in STEM career fields for a variety of reasons (Beasley & Fisher, 2012;Mau & Li, 2018;Sadler, Sonnert, Hazari, & Tai, 2012;Seo, Shen, & Alfaro, 2019). Beasley and Fisher (2012) noted that there are disproportionate numbers of female, Hispanics, and Blacks leaving "STEM majors for which their underrepresentation has at times been attributed to lack of competence in these fields" (p. 444).…”