Understanding the career decision making of university students enrolled in STEM disciplines

Bennett, Dawn; Knight, Elizabeth; Bawa, Sherry; Dockery, Alfred Michael

doi:10.1177/1038416221994312

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…At the same time, it is noted that problems exist in STEM education (Garibay 2015 ; Josa and Aguado 2021 ). It is recognized that having a positive social impact entices students to enroll in STEM (Bennett et al 2021 ) and a social awareness curriculum has an impact on the engineering identity formation of high school girls Burks et al ( 2019 , p. 1). Various studies investigated the social responsibility of engineering students, seeing it as important but reporting problems (Børsen et al 2021 ; Canney and Bielefeldt 2015 ; Schiff et al 2021 ; Tomblin and Mogul 2020 ).…”

Section: Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditing the impact of artificial intelligence on the ability to have a good life: using well-being measures as a tool to investigate the views of undergraduate STEM students

Lillywhite

Wolbring

2023

AI & Soc

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AI/ML increasingly impacts the ability of humans to have a good life. Various sets of indicators exist to measure well-being/the ability to have a good life. Students play an important role in AI/ML discussions. The purpose of our study using an online survey was to learn about the perspectives of undergraduate STEM students on the impact of AI/ML on well-being/the ability to have a good life. Our study revealed that many of the abilities participants perceive to be needed for having a good life were part of the well-being/ability to have a good life indicator lists we gave to participants. Participants perceived AI/ML to have and continue to have the most positive impact on the ability to have a good life for disabled people, elderly people, and individuals with a high income and the least positive impact for people of low income and countries from the global south. Regarding indicators of well-being and the ability to have a good life given to participants, we found a significant techno-positive sentiment. 30% of respondents selected the purely positive box for 28 of the indicators and none did so for the purely negative box. For 52 indicators, the purely negative was below 10% (not counting the 0%) and for 10 indicators, none selected purely negative. Our findings suggest that our questions might be valuable tools to develop an inventory of STEM and other students’ perspectives on the implications of AI/ML on the ability to have a good life.

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Section: Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditing the impact of artificial intelligence on the ability to have a good life: using well-being measures as a tool to investigate the views of undergraduate STEM students

Lillywhite

Wolbring

2023

AI & Soc

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“…2 summarise the intersectionality of motivational factors together with the relative strength of each factor. Figure 2 shows that personal and social utility intersected with intrinsic interest but to a smaller degree than has been observed in other STEM disciplines (Bennett et al, 2020(Bennett et al, , 2021. Specifically, personal utility was influenced by perceived job availability rather than anticipated salary or job security.…”

Section: Discussion: the Importance Of Intrinsic Motivation In Itmentioning

confidence: 87%

Understanding the career interests of Information Technology (IT) students: a focus on choice of major and career aspirations

McKenzie

Bennett

2022

Educ Inf Technol

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Despite continuous growth in the number of positions in Australia’s Information Technology (IT) industry since 2015, only half of Australia’s IT graduates go on to work in IT positions. A much-debated challenge for graduates is that the transition to work is complex and often demands several attempts. Less discussed is why school students choose to study IT at university and whether these motivational factors inform their career choice. The motivation to study at university has many potential influences including social factors, prior experience, self-perceptions, intrinsic or personal utility values, or simply the prospect of a good salary. Students’ choice of university major has similar influences; however, many learners select their major and enter university without having thought about possible career pathways. As such, without appropriate support during their time at university, students may not translate interest and motivation into career identity or commitment, and they may not develop realistic career goals or job-seeking strategies. To understand the antecedents to career interest, this study investigated the choice of major and career aspirations of undergraduate IT students at an Australian university. The two-year study engaged students in two phases of data collection. First, students completed an online self-assessment of study and career confidence, answering two open questions on why they chose to study IT and how long they intended to work in the discipline. Students then responded to a short online survey about their short- and longer-term career aspirations and prior experience. The results show that the motivation to study IT is based largely on intrinsic interest and enjoyment of IT rather than on external factors such as salary or job security. Most students reported broad career aspirations related to IT; however, students were unable to articulate what these careers might entail and they were unsure about the amount of time they would spend in the IT profession. The study concluded that understanding IT students’ motivation for study could inform career development learning activities through which students transform their interest into career choice and pre-professional identity.

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“…Akosah-Twumasi et al, (2018) reported that personal interest was highlighted as the major factor that influenced career choice in individualistic settings, and the youth were more independent in their career decision making and that most career decisions of students are based on their personal interests. Similarly, Bennett, Knight, Bawa and Dockery (2021) reported that students' career decision making in science oriented careers is guided by their interest in the subject.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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2022

AJE

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All ATINER's publications including its e-journals are open access without any costs (submission, processing, publishing, open access paid by authors, open access paid by readers etc.) and is independent of presentations at any of the many small events (conferences, symposiums, forums, colloquiums, courses, roundtable discussions) organized by ATINER throughout the year and entail significant costs of participating. The intellectual property rights of the submitting papers remain with the author. Before you submit, please make sure your paper meets the basic academic standards, which includes proper English. Some articles will be selected from the numerous papers that have been presented at the various annual international academic conferences organized by the different divisions and units of the Athens Institute for Education and Research. The plethora of papers presented every year will enable the editorial board of each journal to select the best, and in so doing produce a top-quality academic journal. In addition to papers presented, ATINER will encourage the independent submission of papers to be evaluated for publication.The current issue is the secong of the tenth volume of the Athens Journal of Education (AJE), published by the Education Unit of ATINER.

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Understanding the career decision making of university students enrolled in STEM disciplines

Cited by 18 publications

References 28 publications

Auditing the impact of artificial intelligence on the ability to have a good life: using well-being measures as a tool to investigate the views of undergraduate STEM students

Auditing the impact of artificial intelligence on the ability to have a good life: using well-being measures as a tool to investigate the views of undergraduate STEM students

Understanding the career interests of Information Technology (IT) students: a focus on choice of major and career aspirations

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