Role of Interest and Self-Concept in Predicting Science Aspirations: Gender Study

Abstract

According to previous theories and studies, interest and self-concept at an early age have played a pivotal role in occupational choices, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. However, a causal relationship between interest, self-concept, and aspirations in science is still under debate. In addition, few studies have focused on gender differences in these relationships. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationships between interest and selfconcept in predicting science aspirations between ages 13 and 16 at lower-secondary school, considering gender differences. For the analyses, we conducted cross-lagged modeling and multigroup structural equation modeling in order to examine interrelationships between interest, selfconcept, and science aspirations. According to the results, students' self-concept was high and stable, while interest was low but increased significantly during the lower-secondary school phases. However, there were no reciprocal relationships between interest and self-concept in predicting students' science aspirations. Interestingly, while girls' interest was indicated as a sound predictor of aspirations in science, girls' self-concept had no predictive influence on aspirations. Possible interpretations and implications of the study for lower-secondary science education are discussed.

Intrinsic Motivation and Sophisticated Epistemic Beliefs Are Promising Pathways to Science Achievement: Evidence From High Achieving Regions in the East and the West

“…At the secondary school level, science could be taught as an integrated subject or as more specialized into the separate subjects of physics, chemistry, geography, and biology (Lavonen and Juuti, 2016). The Finnish science curriculum may be characterized as an inquiry-or context-based approach to raise students' interest and motivation toward science subjects (Kang et al, 2019;Lehtinen et al, 2019). It highlights the importance of personal relevance by linking science content to their lives, which apparently leads to a positive correlation with interest and achievement (Kang and Keinonen, 2018).…”

Indonesian students' perception of gender equity in education

“…Since many studies show that student achievement in certain school field subjects' sort of science or engineering were extremely affected by academics rather than non-academic self-concepts (Kang et al, 2019;Kang & Keinonen, 2017;Marsh, 1992), instead of gender. Furthermore, other study shows that students' self-concept, for example, the ability of science to increase the aspirations of student involvement in further studies or working in the field (Guo et al, 2017;Kang et al, 2019;Kang & Keinonen, 2017), and in this case, women seem more diligent and eager to study. Bobbitt-Zeher's study shows that young women are now outperforming young men on many indicators of educational attainment.…”

Sense of Belonging as an Important Factor in the Pursuit of Physics: Does It Also Matter for Female Participants of the German Physics Olympiad?

“…Based on previous evidence on success expectations and career aspirations in STEM fields (e.g., Kang et al, 2019;Selimbegović et al, 2019), regarding Hypothesis 2, we apply the lens of the expectancy-value theory (e.g., Wigfield and Eccles, 2000). The expectancy-value theory includes belonging as a predictor of career choices but has so far not systematically addressed the extent to which sense of belonging, above and beyond domain-specific self-concept and interest in physics, predicts expectancy-and value-related outcomes.…”

“…The present study's findings underscore the importance of sense of belonging in the school-to-university transition phase; sense of belonging to physics significantly predicted success expectations for studying physics at university and value of doing so. Sense of belonging had a predictive value above and beyond the expected influence of self-concept and interest (e.g., Nagengast and Marsh, 2012;Kang et al, 2019). Thereby, it is interesting to note that the three variables -belonging, self-concept, and interest -seem to serve different functions in forming future expectations and value beliefs: while self-concept but not interest predicted success expectations, and conversely interest but not self-concept predicted value beliefs, sense of belonging predicted both outcomes to a similar extent ( Table 5).…”

“…Lower interest in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers and often lower numbers of girls in science precipitated much research on gender differences in science, applying different rationales and theoretical approaches (e.g., Aronson et al, 1999;Schmader et al, 2004;Flore and Wicherts, 2015;Kang et al, 2019). Declining interest in science over the course of secondary school seems widely acknowledged (see, for instance, Potvin and Hasni, 2014a;Potvin et al, 2018) with only few contradicting findings (see, for instance, Kang et al, 2019). However, a study by Sadler et al (2012) paints a more nuanced image by taking gender into account: in contrast to boys' stable interest in STEM careers, girls' interest declines during high school.…”