Examining Students’ Perceptions of STEM Subjects and Career Interests: An Exploratory Study among Secondary Students in Hong Kong

Zhang, Qiaoping; Chia, Hui Min; Chen, Kexin

doi:10.21061/jte.v33i2.a.1

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…• Promote the policy to improve STEM career interest. [6,10,11,30,54,109,118,159,169,177] APPENDIX A See Table A1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the factors affecting girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects

Msambwa,

Daniel,

Lianyu

et al. 2023

Comp Applic In Engineering

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There have been global efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) on quality education, gender equality, industry, innovation, and infrastructure development; however, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), men still dominate these fields at the highest levels, as boys dominate STEM subjects in schools. Thus, there is a need to improve female participation in these fields at all levels. Therefore, this systematic review examined the empirical evidence on the factors affecting girls' participation in STEM subjects. We conducted a comprehensive literature search using electronic databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO‐host, and Google Scholar. An analysis of 165 scholarly publications was done using a systematic methodology. The study found that only 10% of the studies indicated that girls' poor participation in STEM could be attributed to personal factors and 61% to environmental factors. Additionally, behavioral factors accounted for 29% of the sampled studies, which found that negative attitudes, lack of career plans, lack of collaboration, interest, poor self‐concept, self‐efficacy, and low motivation were identified as factors that affect girls' participation in STEM subjects. The findings highlight a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge of girls in STEM, providing policymakers, educators, and practitioners with valuable insights into creating an enabling environment that supports more girls in STEM subjects. Furthermore, it contributes to the global efforts to achieve the SDGs 4, 5, and 9.

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“…• Promote the policy to improve STEM career interest. [6,10,11,30,54,109,118,159,169,177] APPENDIX A See Table A1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the factors affecting girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects

Msambwa,

Daniel,

Lianyu

et al. 2023

Comp Applic In Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The students were asked to self-evaluate whether they were confident in their personal abilities to learn science, mathematics, and technology at school. Because engineering-related subjects are not included in most Hong Kong schools (Zhang et al, 2022), measures of students' self-concept in learning engineering-related subjects were not included in this study. Sample items are 'I do well in Math subjects' and 'I understand most of the things in my Science subjects' .…”

Section: Scale 3: Stem Self-concept (Self-concept)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…STEM education was recommended to be integrated into regular Science, Mathematics, Information Technology (IT), or other school subjects (EDB, 2016). In addition, many schools organize STEM activities as short-term and extracurricular activities during out-of-class time (Tam et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Scale 5: School Stem Opportunities (School Opportunities)mentioning

confidence: 99%

STEM learning opportunities and career aspirations: the interactive effect of students’ self-concept and perceptions of STEM professionals

Chen,

So,

Zhu

et al. 2024

IJ STEM Ed

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Background Students’ positive perceptions of scientists or engineers have been reported to be positively related to their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career aspirations. However, other research indicates that positive perceptions of experts in these fields might not necessarily lead to students’ pursuit of STEM careers. Self-concept, defined as one’s perceived abilities in specific academic domains, likely plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceptions and career aspirations according to the motivational theory of role modelling. Moreover, students’ perceptions of STEM professionals might be sourced from STEM-related media and school experiences. Therefore, through running a moderated mediation model, this study examined whether and how the influences of media consumption and school STEM learning opportunities on career aspirations would be mediated by perceptions of STEM professionals, and whether the mediation effect would be conditional on students’ self-concept. Methods Data were collected through an online survey of 608 primary and secondary school students from Hong Kong, and were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results Results revealed that the students’ positive perceptions of STEM professionals were positively associated with their career aspirations, and mediated the links from media consumption and school opportunities to career aspirations. In addition, this mediated pathway depended on STEM self-concept, such that perceptions of STEM professionals were only linked with STEM career aspirations for adolescents with average or high levels of self-concept. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest the need to pay attention to the STEM perceptions and self-concept interaction while designing and implementing learning activities to connect a diversity of students with STEM careers. It is not only important to foster students’ self-concept, but also to enrich their knowledge of diverse occupations, so as to help diversify their perceptions that being professionals in these fields is desirable and attainable, and to eventually inspire more student engagement and participation in STEM.

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“…In Spain, development and research rates are accelerating, and new organizational forms and functions are emerging that promote research, knowledge, and technology commercialization [33]. STEAM (Sciences, Technologies, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) graduates, PhDs, and researchers in technological knowledge areas help the industrial fabric and economic development [34][35][36][37]. The scientific and innovative system of the territory makes it possible to achieve results in terms of technological progress and, therefore, to promote economic growth [32].…”

Section: Castilla Y León (Spain): Depopulation and Development Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trend in STEAM Careers in the Depopulated Spain

Fernández‐Arias

Sánchez-Jiménez

Antón‐Sancho

et al. 2023

Trends in Higher Education

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Spain has a serious depopulation problem in large part of its territory and mainly in rural areas, where the population density is even lower than ten inhabitants per km2. An example of this depopulation phenomenon, known as “depopulated Spain”, is the region of Castilla y León. STEAM knowledge areas (Sciences, Technologies, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) are essential to achieve the socio-economic growth of the territories and, with it, the desired population growth. Faced with this challenge, STEAM graduates can help to strengthen the industrial fabric and increase economic development. The main objectives of this research are the analysis (i) of the trend and (ii) of the gender gap in STEAM degrees and Ph.D. programs in Castilla y León. The evolution of the number of enrolled and graduated students in STEAM knowledge areas in the last years was analyzed to achieve these objectives, as well as the future trend. The results obtained showed a lack of STEAM graduates in Castilla y León, as well as the existence of a gender gap. Given this scenario, it is difficult to affirm the sustainability of the research, economic, and industrial systems in the region.

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Examining Students’ Perceptions of STEM Subjects and Career Interests: An Exploratory Study among Secondary Students in Hong Kong

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

A systematic review of the factors affecting girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects

A systematic review of the factors affecting girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects

STEM learning opportunities and career aspirations: the interactive effect of students’ self-concept and perceptions of STEM professionals

Trend in STEAM Careers in the Depopulated Spain

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