Latino parents’ science beliefs and support of high school students’ motivational beliefs: Do the relations vary across gender and familism values?

Simpkins, Sandra D.; Estrella, Gabriel; Gaskin, Erin R.; Kloberdanz, Erin

doi:10.1007/s11218-018-9459-5

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Teachers at school may encourage male students to learn science more, e.g., by praising them for their correctly conducted physical experiments, whereas female students might be motivated to analyze the beauty of Gabriele Mistral's poetry, according to socially shared schema of technically talented boys and humanistically predisposed girls (Eccles et al 1990;Jussim et al 1996;Watson et al 2017). Similarly, at home, parents who keep their daughters away from screwdrivers or their sons away from dolls may show them how to bake cakes and replace a bicycle hub, respectively (Jacobs et al 2004;Simpkins et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do females choose to study humanities or social sciences, while males prefer technology or science? Some intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors

Trusz

2020

Soc Psychol Educ

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The article attempts to answer the question why females prefer humanities/social studies, whereas males opt for technology/science. For this purpose, the study majors selected by 445 females and 431 males were linked by logit functions with: (1) parents' and (2) teachers' expectancies, (3) students' self-expectancies, (4) their self-concepts of abilities and (5) time spent on learning mathematics and (6) literacy, (7) test results in mathematics and (8) literacy, (9) gender of mathematics, and (10) literacy teacher in the 12th grade. Interaction effects of the mathematics and literacy teacher's gender with the abovementioned predictors were also quantified. Females' selections were mostly influenced by teachers' expectancies, while for males, by their self-concepts. The teacher's gender modified tested relations in five (females) and nine (males) cases. The results were discussed on the grounds of the theory of intra-and interpersonal expectancies as learning regulators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do females choose to study humanities or social sciences, while males prefer technology or science? Some intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors

Trusz

2020

Soc Psychol Educ

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“…Thus, when mothers of daughters hold gendered stereotypes about math, they become less involved in their daughter's math education over time. Similarly, previous research has shown that parental beliefs regarding Latinx adolescents' science ability in the ninth grade predicted higher parental science support at home in the 10th grade for boys, but not for girls (Simpkins et al, 2018). Further, gender beliefs became significantly more traditional as Latinx students progressed from the ninth to 11th grades, leading their parents to endorse more positive attitudes toward boys and men in STEM than girls and women (Starr & Simpkins, 2021).…”

Section: Gender Patterns In Latinx Students' Educationmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Consistent with previous literature (Espinoza, 2010), Latinas in this investigation discussed tending to family responsibilities, suggesting that despite college being historically viewed as a time for independence, familial obligations can still take precedence and make academic aspirations difficult to balance (Sánchez et al, 2010). The nuanced messages received from various family members is a unique finding of the present study as previous literature has identified parental beliefs among high school Latinx students as being more traditional and less supportive of Latinas pursuing the sciences than Latino males, both of which lead to lower science identities and outcomes among Latinas in high school (Simpkins et al, 2018; Starr & Simpkins, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Relatedly, Latina girls reported the lowest parental positivity (i.e., unwavering support even when things do not go well) and academic and motivational support for the sciences compared to White students and Latino boys (Simpkins et al, 2015). When Latinas do not feel supported or encouraged by their families, their own science identity and motivation declines (Simpkins et al, 2018). These STEM-gendered attitudes may be influenced by Latinx parents’ beliefs that STEM careers are a male-dominated field and hence are less likely to encourage or support their daughters to study these fields compared to their sons (Flores, 2011; Garriott et al, 2019).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of family in Latinx students’ science education and career pursuit.

Thursby Bourke,

Sánchez,

Monjaras-Gaytan

et al. 2024

Journal of Latinx Psychology

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This study aimed to identify the ways in which families shape Latinx students' science education and career aspirations as well as the gender patterns in how families shape their experiences. Qualitative in-depth, one-on-one interviews were conducted with students from a science-mentoring program for Latinx students. The sample included 11 Latinx high school and college students (M age = 18 years old, SD = 1.84, range = 16-21 years old, 55% male, 45% female) from lower income families. A three-phase modified grounded theory approach was used to develop codes and themes regarding the ways students discussed the ways their families influenced their experiences in the sciences. Families shaped students' experiences in the sciences through: (a) communicating a sense of pride and encouragement, (b) having high educational expectations, (c) their limited experiences with higher education (e.g., the application process, funding, degree selection), and (d) balancing academic and familial responsibilities. There were gender patterns in families' messages and expectations expressed to participants. Suggestions for interventions and future research are provided. Public Significance StatementLatinx students' science education and career pursuits are shaped by their families. While families showed (a) encouragement and pride and (b) high expectations, students discussed families' limited experiences with higher education and the difficult balancing act between their familial and academic responsibilities. Some of the support provided and family expectations were rooted in traditional cultural and gendered beliefs.

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“…Relatedly, scholars have also created broader conceptualizations of family STEM support by considering science capital, which includes science-related cultural capital (e.g., scientific literacy), science-related behaviors and practices (e.g., out-of-school science experiences), and sciencerelated social capital (e.g., parents' science qualifications, knowing people in science; Archer et al, 2015). In support of these theories, research suggests that parents' math-and science-specific support is positively related to students' math and science motivational beliefs (e.g., Simpkins et al, 2018;Simpkins, Fredricks, et al, 2015).…”

Section: Parent Stem Support and Adolescents' Math And Science Motiva...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining changes in adolescents’ high school math and science motivational beliefs and their relations to parental STEM support and STEM major choice at the intersectionality of gender and college generation status.

Jiang,

Simpkins

2024

Developmental Psychology

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Drawing on the situated expectancy-value, dimensional comparison theories, and the intersectionality approach, this article examined the changes in adolescents' math and science motivational beliefs, the parental and college correlates of those beliefs, and the differences at the intersection of gender and college generation status (i.e., female and male firstand continuing-generation college students). Findings based on the nationally representative high-school longitudinal study data (N = 12,070; M age = 14 years; 54% female students; 28% first-generation college students; and 14% Latinx, 9% Black, 10% Asian, and 57% White) suggest that although adolescents' math and science ability self-concepts declined during high school, their science interest remained stable, and their math and science utility values increased. Adolescents' motivational beliefs in ninth grade and the changes from ninth to 11th grade positively predicted whether they declared a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college major. Parents' ninthgrade STEM support was more consistently associated with adolescents' concurrent beliefs compared to the changes in their beliefs. Finally, we found that female first-generation college students, who were more likely to be Latinx and Black students, tended to have lower math and science motivational beliefs, received less parental STEM support, and were less likely to choose a STEM major than their peers. The findings of this study indicate adolescents' math and science motivational development in high school matters for their college majors and that certain understudied groups, including female first-generation college students, may experience acute marginalization in STEM and warrant further attention. Public Significance StatementThis article examined the changes in adolescents' math and science motivational beliefs and their correlation with parental support and subsequent science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major choices. Our findings have direct implications for policy, practice, and interventions that seek to increase the long-term pursuit of careers in STEM to focus on boosting the development of adolescents' math and science motivational beliefs during high school as well as parental STEM support. This article draws attention to a marginalized but understudied group in STEM, namely female first-generation college students.

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Latino parents’ science beliefs and support of high school students’ motivational beliefs: Do the relations vary across gender and familism values?

Cited by 13 publications

References 49 publications

Why do females choose to study humanities or social sciences, while males prefer technology or science? Some intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors

Why do females choose to study humanities or social sciences, while males prefer technology or science? Some intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors

The role of family in Latinx students’ science education and career pursuit.

Examining changes in adolescents’ high school math and science motivational beliefs and their relations to parental STEM support and STEM major choice at the intersectionality of gender and college generation status.

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