Intergenerational Transfers of Preferences for Science Careers in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Using data from 24 countries, which participated in the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), we examine the relationship between parental science employment and students' career expectations. In contrast to prior PISA-based studies, we find that the link between parental employment and adolescent plans to work in science is non-trivial and merits attention. In this context, we consider three versions of the gender socialisation hypothesis. The strong variant posits that girls' plans are shaped solely by their mothers' career pathways while boys model their expectations exclusively on fathers' occupations. The weaker version of this hypothesis expects children to be influenced more by the same-sex than by the opposite-sex parent. Finally, the third possibility is that, as egalitarian ideologies prevail, parents inspire adolescent occupational plans regardless of gender. These hypotheses are assessed separately for student career plans related to biology, agriculture and health (BAH) in contrast to computing, engineering and mathematics (CEM), because the involvement in these fields of science is known to be segregated by gender. Using two-level multinomial logit modelling, we find some support for the weak version of the gender socialisation hypothesis. Although within-family transfers of preferences for science careers vary considerably across countries, we note certain regularities. In many nations, relevant paternal employment enhances sons' interest in science careers regardless of their field. In contrast, maternal employment inspires daughters in fewer countries and this influence tends to be limited to careers in BAH. We discuss the possible implications of these findings for science educators.

Planning a Career in Engineering: Parental Effects on Sons and Daughters

“…Our results extend the findings of Sikora and Propokek [21] by showing that gender-specific parental role modeling operates at the point of college entry. The findings extend Marks's [62] analysis by examining occupation-specific role modeling effects.…”

“…Sikora and Popropek [21] lay out the role-modeling thesis in detail with respect to careers in sciences. They find that role models are influential in the choice of scientific careers, and parents in particular serve as powerful role model.…”

Parental occupation and children’s school outcomes in math.

“…Students occupational expectations with regard to occupations in science-related areas seem to be largely uninfluenced by whether or not their parents work in science (OECD, 2017). Sikora and Pokropek (2012) analyze the same data with the aim of comparing different hypotheses related to the intergenerational transfer of preferences, and they conclude that in many nations, paternal employment enhances sons' interest in science 8 MATH SCHOOL OUTCOMES careers regardless of their field, while maternal employment inspires daughters in fewer countries, and this influence tends to be limited to careers in biology, agriculture and health. There is also evidence that young adolescents who expect to have a career in science are more likely to graduate from college with a science degree, emphasizing the importance of early encouragement (Tai et al, 2006).…”

National education systems and gender gaps in STEM occupational expectations

“…A large amount of research in the United States and other countries has focused on individual-and school-level factors, including attitudes toward math, self-assessments, math and science achievement, and gender socialization, in explaining gender gaps in STEM educational and occupational expectations (Correll Shelley, 2001;Sikora and Pokropek, 2012b;Xie and Shauman, 2003). In addition to individual-level factors, it is important to examine the extent to which macro-level factors are associated with gender differences in occupational preferences (for example, Xie and Shauman, 1997), because macro-level factors such as the organization of national education systems also affect student achievement, attitudes, motivations, and aspirations.…”