Study choice and career development in STEM fields: an overview and integration of the research

Abstract

Although science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) study paths and STEM work fields may be relatively difficult and therefore not appropriate for everyone, too many children prematurely exclude STEM-related study and work options, based on negative images of the field or negative ability beliefs. In the present article, we provide an overview of the literature from different research perspectives that shows that study choice and career decisions made by young adults have their roots in earlier in childhood. In our view, the literature reviewed points to three interrelated factors that are important in the study choice and career development of children aged 8-16: knowledge, affective value, and ability beliefs and self-efficacy building. Based on this review, we argue that knowledge of the STEM field, and of the self in STEM activities, and parents' and teachers' knowledge of the early circumscription processes of children aged 8-16 needs to be broadened. Also, negative and often-stereotypical affective values adhered to STEM study choices or careers among parents and teachers need to be countered. With regard to ability beliefs, we argue that we should focus more attention on turning pupils' entity beliefs into incremental ones.

Implicit STEM ability beliefs predict secondary school students' STEM self‐efficacy beliefs and their intention to opt for a STEM field career

“…In our model, 39% of the variance in STEM intention was explained, which might not seem very high. However, the intention to opt for a STEM bachelor's degree may be influenced by a multitude of factors, such as social‐economic factors, cultural factors, or educational factors (van Tuijl & Walma van der Molen, ; Wang & Degol, ). A student's implicit STEM ability belief is just one of the factors contributing to the intention to opt for a particular study path.…”

“…First, for practical reasons, we were only able to investigate a limited number of factors that may contribute to the mechanism underlying one's decision‐making process in the STEM domain. We know from the literature that there are many contextual factors that may influence STEM career decisions and that there is a more complex system of beliefs underlying these decisions (Eccles, ; van Tuijl & Walma van der Molen, ; Wang & Degol, ). Focusing on a single factor does not provide a comprehensive overview of the whole mechanism contributing to STEM intention.…”

“…However, secondary school students' lack of interest to opt for a STEM field career is continuing to be an area of concern (Bøe, Henriksen, Lyons, & Schreiner, ; DeWitt & Archer, ; OECD, ; Regan & DeWitt, ; U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, ). Although previous research identified a multitude of factors that constitute STEM motivation (Glynn, Brickman, Armstrong, & Taasoobshirazi, ) and a multitude of factors that may influence students' motivation for STEM career paths (Van Tuijl & Walma van der Molen, ; Wang & Degol, ) it remains a challenge to positively stimulate students' STEM interest, especially where girls are concerned. In this paper, we investigate an alternative factor that might predict students' intention to opt for a STEM field study path, namely the role that implicit ability beliefs may play in students' intention to opt for STEM.…”

“…Students' lack of interest in the STEM field becomes most notable at the end of primary school and during secondary school (DeWitt & Archer, ; Osborne & Dillon, ; Van Tuijl & Walma van der Molen, ). One salient factor that has been repeatedly designated as contributing to secondary school students' reluctance to opt for a STEM‐oriented study path is students' low self‐efficacy beliefs regarding STEM subjects (Betz & Hackett, ; Borgen & Betz, ; O'Brien, Martinez‐Pons, & Kopala, ; Wigfield & Eccles, ).…”

Learning about Careers: Open data and Labour Market Intelligence

“…A literature review from adult education, and on adults who return to learning, provides insight to multiple social, cultural and economic factors associated with adults' decision making when it comes to engagement in learning (Hughes et al, 2016). Gender, ethnicity and socio-economic factors all strongly affect these choices (Cardoso & Marques, 2008;van Tuijl & van der Molen, 2015).…”