Staff matter: Gender differences in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) career interest development in adolescent youth

Abstract

We explore the understudied role of program staff in an out-of-school time (OST) program at a large science museum, which may be especially relevant for supporting underrepresented minority (URM) youth's interest in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) careers. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-method design, we surveyed 167 program alumni on their science attitudes, career interests, and memories about how the program compared to experiences at home, school, and with friends. We followed that with 49 interviews with alumni. Findings show that, while in the program, alumni who identify as women reported a much greater increase in their STEM career interest than those who identify as men. Interviews suggest this may be related to different types of staff relationships between the genders. We interpret results through the lens of positive youth development and offer recommendations for OST program providers and researchers.

Learning Environment: Gender Profile of Students' Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB) based on Green Consumerism

“…Male students tend to be more wasteful in using energy because they are not used to doing things faster, and sometimes they don't think too much about their surroundings. This discovery further proves that gender turns out to have a role in PEB and student knowledge, for that the teacher must begin to pay attention to gender factors in learning (Gullberg, Andersson, Danielsson, Scantlebury, & Hussénius, 2018;Price, Kares, Segovia, & Loyd, 2018;Sax et al, 2017).…”

“…Psychologically, men want to stand out compared to other men. This gender difference also influences classroom learning (Chander & Muthukrishnan, 2015;Lekakos et al, 2014;Price et al, 2018).…”

Participation in structured STEM‐focused out‐of‐school time programs in secondary school: Linkage to postsecondary STEM aspiration and major

“…Existing empirical research also underscores the benefit of the intensity and continuity of participation in OST programs for adolescents' academic achievement in secondary school and college (Darling, 2005;Gardner, Roth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2008;Mahoney & Vest, 2012;Morris, 2016). In addition, students' participation in OST programs, regardless of its focus on STEM or other subject matters, is associated with their expectancy-value beliefs of postsecondary education and STEM career, such as students' expectancy of success and further education (Mahoney, Larson et al, 2005;Morris, 2016), interest in academic matters, postsecondary education, and a career in STEM fields (Dabney et al, 2012;Price et al, 2018;Young et al, 2016), and self-efficacy in STEM-focused and other subjects (Dabney et al, 2012;Larson, 2000;Mahoney, Larson, et al, 2005;Morris, 2016). As such, in the present study, we treated the aspiration to STEM fields and choosing a STEM major in college as culminating events of students' long-term participation of OST programs during secondary school.…”

“…Beneficial opportunities of STEM learning come in a number of intentional ways in the academic curriculum, including in activities out of the classroom. Out-of-school time (OST) experiences may be an effective venue to enrich students' learning experiences and promote STEM interest (Dabney et al, 2012;Godwin, Sonnert, & Sadler, 2016;Price, Kares, Segovia, & Loyd, 2018). OST programs are adult-supervised, extracurricular activities taking place in a structured or unstructured manner, such as after-school programs and summer camps.…”

“…To date, important empirical studies have documented positive outcomes of various OST programs focusing on STEM, including a sustained interest in STEM fields and a sense of STEM identity (Young, Ortiz, & Young, 2016). However, some of them were limited to cross-sectional correlation between students' experience of STEM-focused OST programs and concurrent interest in STEM fields (Price et al, 2018), while others are confined to the effects of specific OST programs (Godwin et al, 2016;Yilmaz, Ren, Custer, & Coleman, 2010). As such, less is known how the participating in STEM-focused OST programs over time is related to students' aspiration to a STEM major.…”