What Young Adolescents Think About Engineering

Abstract

To explore young adolescents' interest in engineering as a future career, we examined the influence of gender and grade level on participants' (N ¼ 197, aged 10-13) views of engineering. One group (107 students) viewed a brief engineering video and wrote why they felt the same or different about engineering following the video. Qualitative analyses revealed that some reported viewing engineering differently and more positively, although most did not want to be an engineer. Girls, more than boys, noted that engineers helped people. Six months after the video intervention, participants completed quantitative measures about engineering. Quantitative analyses comparing responses of participants who had seen the video, with those who had not, revealed that the video dispelled some stereotyped beliefs, but not others, with grade-level and gender effects. The findings highlight the importance of listening to adolescents' views about engineering as a field and as a future career.Keywords career interests/structure of interest, research content areas, career-related self-efficacy, lifespan/ development theories, career theories, children/youth, sample populationsIn recent years, programs have been initiated to promote girls' and minorities' interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with the long-term goal of increasing participation in STEM careers (e.g., ACT Policy Report, 2006; The Society of Women Engineers, 2013). The kinds of intervention programs vary from daylong panel presentations by professionals in STEM careers to hands-on, out-of-school activities that include college students working with younger adolescents and school children, along with professional development for STEM teachers. National groups have pursued the goal of getting more students into the STEM pipeline; specifically, by taking classes in middle

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