Identification of the Interest of Turkish Middle-School Students in Stem Careers: Gender and Grade Level Differences

Abstract

In Turkey, it is predicted that the need for STEM employment in the 2016-2023 period will be close to one million and that about 31% of this need will not be met. Therefore, the identification of students’ interest in STEM careers in middle-school is regarded as important. The aim of this research was to identify the interest of middle-school students in STEM careers. The sample of the research was made up of 892 students who received education in four middle-schools in the Aegean region of Turkey. In this research which was of the descriptive survey model, the STEM Career Interest Questionnaire was used to collect data. As a result of research, it was determined that the interest of male students in STEM careers is more positive compared to the female students. It was found that the interest in careers in terms of grade level did not display any differences in the area of technology, whereas it displayed differences in the areas of science, engineering and mathematics. In addition, it was identified that the interest in STEM careers displayed differences in terms of grade level and that as the grade level increases, the interest in STEM careers decreases.

Determination of the Factors Affecting Students’ Science Achievement Level in Turkey and Singapore: An Application of Quantile Regression Mixture Model

“…In the literature, many researchers have been revealed that gender is an important factor that affects students' achievement (Contini et al, 2017;Ergün, 2019;Gümüş & Chudgar, 2016;Innabi & Dodeen, 2018;Li, Zhang, Liu, & Hao, 2018;Liu & Wilson, 2009;Telteman & Windzio, 2019;Zhou, Zeng, Xu, Chen, & Xiao 2019). However, in this research, gender was not an important factor that affected students' achievement for the students who had the lowest science achievement score in Turkey, which is an important finding that is not supported by other research in the literature.…”

Students’ Perception of Learning Stem-Related Subjects Through Scientist-Teacher-Student Partnership (Stsp)

“…Houseal, Abd-El-Khalick, & Destefano, 2014;Peker & Dolan, 2012;Sadler et al, 2010) that suggested that students who participated in the partnership were able to make better decisions about their future as the partnership relates to science and scientific careers. According to Ergün (2019), the STEM career interest of students can be developed in a positive manner by giving them sufficient occupational guidance about their STEM careers. Thus, STEM career awareness should be a focus for improvement in STEM education, as suggested by Knowles, Kelley and Holland (2018) and Salonen et al (2017).…”

“…The ability to address 21 st -century challenges such as climate change, poverty and food security will depend on how well-educated the population in STEM is. However, in most countries, there has been a decrease in the number of students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields in secondary school and tertiary education level (Alan, Zengin, & Kececi, 2019;Ergün, 2019;Halim & Meerah, 2016;Jaremus, Gore, Fray, & Prieto-Rodriguez, 2019). Recent studies have shown that engagement with school science and motivation to choose science related career among secondary school students are alarming, as students reject science related career as a future career option (Kudenko & Gras-Velázquez, 2016;Shao-Na Zhou et al, 2019;Van Griethuijsen et al, 2015).…”

“…Recent studies have also shown that one of the factors that affected the decline of student's interest in STEMrelated careers is the lack of awareness of the wide range of careers that students can enter with a science background (e.g. Ergün, 2019;Peker & Dolan, 2012). Due to the lack of access to the real STEM profession opportunities, students are unable to see these disciplines as springboards for their careers.…”

Examining Change in Perceptions of Science Teachers About E-Stem

“…As a consequence, it is the belief that having a career in a field related to STEM would improve personal life standards and economic well-being drives the students toward this field (Douglas & Strobel, 2014, p. 248). However, it is found out that males in general have more of a tendency to prefer STEM careers compared to females (Christensen & Knezek, 2017;Ergun, 2018;Unfried et al, 2014). Besides, according to a recent report (Mader, 2014), opportunities to learn about STEM are lacking at rural schools in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.…”