Stability and volatility of STEM career interest in high school: A gender study
Abstract
This retrospective cohort study characterizes how interest in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) careers changes during high school for more than 6,000 students in a representative national sample of 34 two‐ and four‐year colleges taking mandatory college English courses. Overall, large gender differences in career plans were found, with males showing far more interest particularly in engineering, whereas females were more attracted to careers in health and medicine during their high school years. The key factor predicting STEM career interest at the end of high school was interest at the start of high school. There was an additional effect of gender, indicating both a lower retention of STEM career interest among females and a greater difficulty in attracting females to STEM fields during high school. During the high school years, the percentage of males interested in a STEM career remained stable (from 39.5 to 39.7), whereas for females it declined from 15.7 to 12.7. The students' initial specific (disciplinary) career interests were found to influence the stability of their interest in a STEM career, with those interested in physics careers at the start of high school having the highest retention in STEM. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 96 :411–427, 2012
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Students perceived the utility of science as having the strongest positive association with their STEM career aspirations.
“Consistently, students perceived the utility of science as having the strongest positive association with their STEM career aspirations [20].”
From FIRST High-School Students and FIRST Graduates: STEM Exposure and Career Choices (2022) · cites this paper as [20]
Among students in England, understanding the broader relevance of science to their lives was the only measured teaching approach that consistently and positively correlates with students' interest in and application of science.
“Among students in England, understanding the broader relevance of science to their lives was the only measured teaching approach that consistently and positively correlates with students' interest in and application of science.”
From FIRST High-School Students and FIRST Graduates: STEM Exposure and Career Choices (2022) · cites this paper as [20]
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- Authors
- Sadler, P. M., Sonnert, G., Hazari, Z., & Tai, R.
- Affiliations
- Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
- Clemson University (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sadler, Philip M.
- Venue
- Science Education
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-01-23
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 411-427
- ISSN
- 0036-8326 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-237X
- OpenAlex
- W2144970394
- Cited by
- 699
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 67 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 77 · 2019: 76 · 2018: 53 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 52.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science Education (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0624444)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Science Education and Perceptions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Keywords
- STEM career interest, gender differences, high school students, engineering careers, women in STEM, gender gap in STEM
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