Young girls in science:Academic ability, perceptions and future participation in science

Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy–value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields

“…High-school boys tend to assess their math competence higher than girls with similar math grades and test scores (Correll, 2001; Nagy et al, 2008). However, it is noteworthy that ability self-concept is a necessary but not a sufficient predictor of educational and career choices (Joyce & Farenga, 2000; Shapka, 2009; Updegraff, Eccles, Barber, & O’Brien, 1996; Wang, 2012). Being capable or good at a given activity does not necessarily mean that an individual will pursue the activity or even enjoy it.…”

“…Youth interest in math and science is associated with the number of math and science courses taken in high school and aspirations for math-related careers (Atwar, Wiggins, & Gardner, 1995; Joyce & Farenga, 2000; Meece, Wigfield, & Eccles, 1990). Boys report higher interest in math even though boys and girls regard math as equally important (Frenzel, Goetz, Pekrun, & Watt, 2010; Watt, 2004).…”

A cross-national mixed-method study of reality pedagogy

“…In addition, researchers have used modified versions of the TOSRA to measure students' attitudes towards mathematics (Ogbuehi and Fraser 2007;Spinner and Fraser 2005), geography (Walker 2006), chemistry (Wong and Fraser 1996), English (Liu and Fraser 2013), Spanish (Adamski, Fraser and Peiro 2013) and classes that are technology-rich (Aldridge and Fraser 2008). Further, the TOSRA has also been used to evaluate innovations (Lott 2003), to compare the attitudes of different groups of students (Joyce and Farenga 2000) and to explore associations between the learning environment and students' attitudes (Fraser and Fisher 1982;Wong, Young and Fraser 1997)…”

Intended persistence: comparing academic and creative challenges in high school

“…Task value is conceptualized as a function of personal importance (a link between the task and one's sense of self), intrinsic value (enjoyment of the activity), and utility value (usefulness of the task toward the completion of a goal; Eccles, 2005b). Task values predict persistence outcomes, such as the number of mathematics and science courses taken by students in high school (Joyce and Farenga, 2000;Simpkins et al, 2006;Updegraff et al, 1996). Early research found that utility values were a key predictor of high school math class enrollment (Updegraff et al, 1996), mediating the relationship between prior achievement and math aptitude and the number of courses taken.…”

“…Task values include perceptions of personal importance of the task (deriving a sense of personal identity from the task), intrinsic value (enjoying the task for its own sake), and utility value (usefulness of the task for other goals). Expectancies and values predict persistence in course enrollment decisions, such as the number of mathematics and science courses taken in high school (Joyce and Farenga, 2000;Lent, Brown, and Larkin, 1984;Simpkins, Davis-Kean, and Eccles, 2006;Updegraff, Eccles, Barber, and O'Brien, 1996). Moreover, high school student expectancy of success, perceived task value, and persistence have been shown to predict actual math achievement in high school geometry (Pokay and Blumenfled, 1990), and prior academic self-concept has been shown to predict grades and standardized test scores beyond what is explained by prior academic achievement (Marsh, Byrne, and Yeung, 1999).…”