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International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
36
The Factors Motivating Students’ STEM
Career Aspirations: Personal and Societal
Contexts
Yujin Leea, Mary M. Capraroa and Radhika Virurua
Corresponding author: Yujin Lee (yujinlee@tamu.edu)
aDepartment of Teaching, Learning and Culture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, U.S.A
Keywords: science, STEM career aspiration, STEM career, motivation, perspective
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–-48, 2018.
Abstract
Students’ STEM career aspirations have received increasing attention worldwide. To understand students’ perspectives toward
science in terms of their STEM career aspirations, researchers in the present study analysed the data collected from participants’
Qualtrics survey responses. The participants in this study were 9th to 12th grade students (n=44) who voluntarily participated in
a one-week STEM camp for which they were offered admission as a result of winning the state science and engineering fair in
Texas. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis along with supplementary analysis of frequency distributions
to determine how these motivated students’ perspectives toward science influenced their decisions to pursue or avoid STEM-
related careers. Results revealed that 79.4% of these students were interested in pursuing STEM careers. Of those who selected
STEM careers for their future employment, the perspectives they held regarding science that motivated their STEM career
aspirations were mainly divided into two contexts – personal and societal. Students who possessed a personal context fell into
one of three themes: positive emotion, personal development, and developing tools for the job. Students whose perspectives
best reflected a societal context were also divided into three themes: helping people, interacting with others, and impacting the
world.
Introduction
Providing K-12 students with a comprehensive and engaging science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) education has been considered critically important for the 21st century
economy in the United States and abroad to ensure competitiveness and prosperity. The emphasis
on STEM education is critical as an increasing number of jobs necessitate STEM-related skills. In
2014, about 20% of all U.S. jobs (26 million) required significant STEM-related knowledge and
skills, and the demand for employees with STEM-related expertise is growing (National Science
Board [NSB], 2015). More specifically, studies have shown that STEM careers, or occupations in
STEM-related fields such as biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and
physics lack the number of skilled individuals needed to fill such positions (Wang & Degol, 2014).
To meet this growing demand for additional employees in the STEM sector, the U.S. has attempted
to foster a strong STEM-capable workforce and to emphasise STEM education (e.g., Texas
Education Agency [TEA], 2017).
Despite the overall efforts to influence students’ interests in STEM majors and careers through the
incorporation and emphasis on STEM education in U.S. classrooms, students’ desires to select
STEM careers continue to fail to meet demand. For example, in 2010, only 38% of bachelor’s
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
37
degree holders in physical sciences chose careers in STEM occupations (U.S. Congress Joint
Economic Committee, 2012). This concern regarding the lack of individuals to supply the STEM
workforce is not confined to the U.S. Many European countries have also indicated that they
require additional workers to fill vacant positions in STEM careers (European Commission, 2004)
but have had difficulty filling these positions because university students’ pursuit of STEM majors
has been declining (Business Europe, 2011). As schools continue to provide a variety of STEM
courses and improved STEM curriculum, hopefully the number of STEM majors and individuals
entering STEM careers will increase in the near future.
Although students’ education may be a contributing factor influencing their career aspirations,
several other factors have been shown to influence students’ STEM career aspirations. For instance,
it has been found that low academic achievement, especially in science, influenced students’
decisions to avoid STEM careers (Arbona, 2000). A number of researchers have also determined
that affective domains that increase motivational beliefs including self-efficacy, interest, values,
and identity processes impacted students’ career aspirations and choices (e.g., Benbow, Lubinski,
Shea, & Eftekhari-Sanjani, 2000; Betz, 2007; Eccles et al., 1993; Jacobs, Davis-Kean, Bleeker,
Eccles, & Malanchuk, 2005). These researchers assumed that students’ academic achievement and
development of positive affects in science motivated their STEM career aspirations.
On the other hand, there are few studies in which researchers directly focused on students’
perspectives related to their STEM career aspirations. Several researchers conducted a
comprehensive examination of the connections between students’ STEM-related education, career
aspirations, and perspectives regarding their career choices at the college level (Graham, Frederick,
Byars-Winston, Hunter, & Handelsman, 2013). However, the impact of STEM-related education
on high school (9th - 12th grade) students and their career aspirations has not been fully analysed
or discussed. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore how high school students’
STEM education and/or experiences influenced their perspectives toward the discipline of science
in relation to their STEM career aspirations.
In particular, the framework of this study was grounded in the ideas present in the Social Cognitive
Career Theory [SCCT] (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000). According to SCCT, both personal and
societal contexts influence students’ career aspirations. The theory establishes that the two contexts
play different roles in their effect on students’ career aspirations; however, there is an intimate
interrelation between these contexts: societal context embeds the personal context. Personal
context is a proximal process directly leading one to pursue a career. Societal context, in contrast,
does not directly influence an individual’s career choices, but instead impacts one’s personal
context, which then determines the individual’s career aspirations or choices. Exploring students’
perspectives toward science in relation to their career aspirations from their personal and societal
contexts could provide educators with a deeper understanding of the underlying factors that can
influence students’ career aspirations. Therefore, the research question framing the present study
was the following: What factors related to students’ perspectives toward science influenced their
STEM career aspirations?
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
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Methodology
Participants
The main purpose of this study was to investigate students’ perspectives toward science in relation
to their STEM career aspirations. Through this investigation, researchers aimed to determine what
factors related to students’ perspectives toward science based on personal and societal context
could have impacted their STEM career aspirations. Therefore, we selected 44 high-achieving
students (17 females & 27 males) as participants using convenience sampling (Marshall, 1997).
These students were science and engineering fair winners from across the state of Texas and were
enrolled in a STEM summer camp in 2016. The Texas Science and Engineering Fair is an annual
science and engineering competition in which students can showcase their STEM-related research
projects (Texas Science & Engineering Fair, 2018). Therefore, we assumed that these students
were highly motivated toward STEM-related disciplines. The ethnic backgrounds of the
participants included 26 Asians (59%), 12 Caucasians (27%), and 6 Hispanics (14%). All
participants were high school students (9th-12th grade), and the majority were going to be entering
grades 10 to 12 in the upcoming academic year. Detailed demographic factors of the students who
participated in this study are presented in Table 1. Inclusion criteria were (a) participants of a
STEM summer camp, (b) 9th – 12th grade students, and (c) high achievers in STEM subjects
(science and engineering fair winners).
Table 1: Demographics for students participating in the study
Frequency (Valid percent)
Gender Female
Male
17 (39%)
27 (61%)
Ethnicity Asian
Caucasian
Hispanic
26 (59%)
12 (27%)
6 (14%)
Grade Level 9th
10th
11th
12th
Total
1 (2%)
10 (23%)
17 (39%)
16 (36%)
44 (100%)
Data collection and analysis
An online Qualtrics survey with five open-response questions was administered to the participants
to examine both their STEM career aspirations and their perspectives toward the importance of
science in their future careers and personal lives. The survey provided at the beginning of the camp
eliminated the immediate effect of the intervention on students’ STEM career aspirations.
The following questions were selected to investigate what factors impacted their STEM career
aspirations:
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
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Q1. What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now?
Q2. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?
Q3. How important will science be in your future education and career/profession?
Q4. In what ways will science be important in your future education and career/profession?
Q5. In what ways will science be important in your personal life?
These questions helped students express their opinions and thoughts using their own words.
The data collected from the five questions were analysed using qualitative analysis with frequency
distribution. First, frequency distribution of the types of careers that the participants were
interested in was used to inform the overall implications of students’ career aspirations. This initial
process allowed the researchers to form two separate groups of responses: (a) those in which
students both expressed interest in STEM careers and indicated that science was relevant for their
future careers and personal lives; and (b) those in which students neither expressed interest in
pursuing a STEM career nor indicated that science would be an important aspect of their future
careers and personal lives. The researchers then reread the responses of students who both
expressed interest in STEM careers and indicated that science was important component of their
future careers and personal lives (n=35) several times to ensure they understood the responses and
to identify significant statements within the responses that indicated students’ perspectives toward
science and STEM career choices. The identified statements were interpreted and codified as
formulated meanings. The formulated meanings were then clustered into themes based on common
content. Finally, the results were interpreted and described in terms of each particular main idea
within the themes. The findings were validated by reexamining the participants’ responses a
second time in conjunction with the identified themes their descriptions (Meadows & Morse,
2001). The final themes and descriptions included the data that emerged during the validation
process. Three experienced researchers participated in the analysis procedure and used bracketing
to elicit students’ perceptions (Streubert & Carpenter, 1999) of science in relation to their STEM
career aspirations. The inter-rater agreement related to determining the continuous variables
was .90.
Results
Frequency distribution of career choices
Table 2 contains a frequency distribution breakdown of participants’ career aspirations based on
their responses to Q1 and Q2. The two questions asked students what they imagined they would
be doing 5 years and 10 years, respectively, from the time of completing the survey. Some students
did not express any career aspirations in their responses to Q1. For example, several students
mentioned that they hoped to be graduating from college or majoring in a particular field 5 years
later. Likewise, several students did not mention specific careers in their responses to Q2 when
describing what they expected to be doing 10 years later, instead mentioning things such as
“conducting research” or “working to change the world”. If a participant’s responses to both Q1
and Q2 did not indicate clear career aspirations, then the participant was labelled as “Either STEM
or non-STEM career”. However, the majority of students did provide clear career aspirations in
their responses to Q1, Q2, or both. Furthermore, of those who mentioned careers, none mentioned
more than one career. Therefore, the researchers examined participants’ responses to Q1 and Q2
as a unit and documented a single career preference for those who listed clear career preferences.
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
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Table 2: Frequency distribution of career interest based on Q1 and Q2
Career
Frequency (Valid percent)
STEM Career
Medical professional (e.g., doctor, dentist, vet)
Biologist
Technology professional (e.g., computer scientist)
Engineer
General scientist
Architect
14 (31.83%)
6 (13.64%)
4 (9.09%)
3 (6.82%)
6 (13.64%)
2 (4.55%)
Non-STEM Career
Social scientist (e.g., psychologist, sociologist)
Business person
Either STEM or Non-STEM Career
1 (2.27%)
1 (2.27%)
7 (15.91%)
Total
44 (100%)
Note: The valid percentages were rounded to two decimal places.
Themes
Formulated meanings of responses for each question (Q1-Q5) from students who expressed
interest in either STEM majors, STEM careers, or both were arranged into clusters, which resulted
in six themes: positive emotion, personal development, tools for the job, helping people,
interacting with others, and impacting the world. These themes were categorized under two main
themes: personal context and societal context. Personal context referred to students’ personal
views regarding the importance of science in their STEM career choices. Positive emotion,
personal development, and tools for the job themes were included in this main theme. Societal
context referred to their perspectives from the social point of view regarding the importance of
science in their STEM career choices. Helping people, interacting with others, and impacting the
world themes were included in this main theme. Table 3 contains the two main themes of the
thematic clusters and some examples of their formulated meanings in terms of the perspectives
toward the importance of science. This table also shows the number of participants included in
each theme.
Personal context
Students derived their perspectives that fit in the category of personal context from the recognition
that science is an inherent component of their everyday lives. This thematic cluster was separated
into three specific themes: positive emotion, personal development, and tools for the job.
Theme 1: Positive emotion
Respondents in the present study whose responses fit within this cluster focused on their emotion
toward science and connected their feelings about this discipline with their STEM career
aspirations. Several students expressed similar sentiments when asked to describe what science
meant to them, describing science as a source of “enjoyment” and “inspiration”. These students
also viewed engaging with science as a personal “interest” and “hobby”. Descriptions showed that
these students had positive emotion toward learning, and this led to their desire to pursue STEM
careers in the future. For example, a sense of the connection of positive emotion toward science
and STEM career aspiration was evident in the statement of the 9th grade student, who wanted to
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
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pursue a job related to technology. He said, “Science will be important in my personal life because
I personally love when I know a fact about nature that someone else doesn’t know. I always enjoy
getting new information and learning anything new about the science world.” This statement
indicated that his enjoyment and sense of fulfillment while learning about science were his
personal motivation for continuing to pursue science. Another student gave a similar response,
noting, “I love learning about science and using science to create and tinker in my free time”.
The indications from the two students’ responses adhere to findings from prior research: students’
enjoyment when interacting with science encouraged them to continue engaging with science
(Pekrun & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2012). Within the theme of positive emotion, the students’ STEM
career aspirations originated from their personal positive emotion toward learning science and their
resulting satisfaction. As one participant mentioned, “studying science and learning how to solve
problems in interesting ways [can] inspire” students to maintain their interest toward science and
then pursue STEM careers. Positive emotion toward the science is related to the interest toward
the STEM-related career (Dawis, 2002). This theme supports many studies in which researchers
have claimed that there is a relationship between students’ affect in terms of STEM education and
their decision to pursue STEM careers. In particular, we could observe why students aspired to
obtain STEM careers from their personal context related to positive emotion.
Table 3: Main themes and thematic clusters with examples of formulated meanings with
frequency
Personal Context
Societal Context
Positive emotion (n=7)
Interest
Hobby
Enjoyment
Love
Fuels my passion
Inspires me
Personal development (n=3)
Curiosity about the world
Inventing/Discovering new things
Make me a more well-rounded person
New ideas and challenges
Tools for the job (n=8)
Giving me skills
Proficient at my skills and jobs
The equipment in my toolbox for the job
Success
Understand the subject knowledge
Widening my own intellect for the job
Helping people (n=10)
Cure people
Help others
Contribute to society
Interacting with others (n=3)
Communicating with others
Making a connection with others
Talking about science
Interacting with friends and family
Impacting the world (n=4)
Building problem-solving skills
Improve/Change the world
Science is everywhere
Better day-to-day life
The evolution of technology
Convenience
Understand the world
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
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Theme 2: Personal development
Students whose responses were categorized into this theme considered learning science and
pursuing a STEM-related job as an opportunity for personal development in areas of their daily
lives such as personal health, self-confidence, and intellectual competence in areas related to their
personal and career interests. The students’ responses in this theme indicated that their pursuit of
personal development through science began with perceiving the relevance of science in their
everyday lives. For example, these students observed that we use science when “cooking for family,
shopping for groceries, painting landscapes, or simply goofing off on technology”. The
applicability and relevance of science in students’ daily lives cultivated their curiosity toward
science. As a result of their curiosity toward the discipline, they chose to pursue STEM careers to
develop their knowledge for improving the quality of their personal lives. The students in this
theme were likely to focus on their curiosity related to science in their responses, and the responses
indicated that their pursuit of scientific knowledge was motivated by their curiosity related to
particular scientific questions and topics. They aspired to obtain STEM careers in the future so
they would have the opportunity to continue investigating these questions and topics. Furthermore,
they believed that pursuing their science-based curiosity could help with their self-development.
As one example, the statement presented in Figure 1 demonstrates one student’s realization of the
importance of science in his daily life, his resulting curiosity in everyday aspects of science, and
his STEM career aspiration for personal development:
Science will always be important in my life, and it always has been… Farming, ranching,
mixing chemicals, and other things like that make science moderately important. I’ve
always been curious about the world…Becoming a chemical engineer will allow me to
solve problems that I have always wanted to know. Learning new scientific information
to feed my curiosity makes me eager to be a more productive person. Also, through
becoming a chemical engineer, I believe I can become the person I aspire to be.
Figure 1: An example of student statement in personal development category
This theme supports the conclusions from previous studies in which researchers have claimed that
curiosity is a foundational starting point that may help stimulate students’ awareness of the
importance of science and that may persuade students to consider STEM careers for their future
jobs (e.g., Gottfried, Marcoulides, Gottfried, & Oliver, 2009; Hidi & Renninger, 2006).
Furthermore, they viewed their pursuit of scientific knowledge and STEM careers as a way to
positively influence their personal development. The relationship between pursuit of personal
development and STEM aspiration, which is aligned with this theme, has also been identified and
discussed in previous studies as a significant concept for advancing STEM aspiration research
(Dabney et al., 2012).
Theme 3: Tools for the job
Participants in this theme indicated that they aspired to obtain STEM careers in order to have
successful lives. For these students, science comprehension clearly represented the tool for
obtaining STEM jobs or succeeding in their future STEM careers. Many responses in this theme
included phrases such as “Science will be important in my life because it will be my career”. These
students considered science important because it “gave them skills to get jobs in STEM fields”.
For instance, one student wrote that through studying science, “more doors will be opened, and
new jobs and career paths will be available for the individuals that take risks to try new things”.
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The students were aware that to be successful and competitive in STEM-related job markets, they
would have to refine and to develop their knowledge as each discipline undergoes innovations. For
example, students stated, “Science is always changing and keeping up with its changes will be
necessary to be successful in the field”, and “Every time science progresses, I will have to update
my knowledge on relevant material in order to widen my own intellect, which is necessary for my
future job”. These students believed that adjusting to changes and innovations in the field of
science would be critical for success in their future careers. Therefore, acquiring scientific
knowledge was their main focus. These students viewed knowledge as a tool for the job, which
was evident in the statement of a 12th grade female student who wanted to become a medical
professional (surgeon). She said, “Gaining vast knowledge on the science revolving around my
field will ensure my success in becoming a surgeon”.
Academic achievement such as getting good grades in STEM-related classes was very important
to these students. The words “knowledge”, “(academic) achievement”, and “success” were
frequently used in students’ statements contained within this theme. They connected their
academic achievement with their future success in STEM careers. In particular, 11th and 12th
graders tended to state the importance of science as a tool for obtaining STEM-related jobs and
being successful in STEM fields.
Societal context
Students’ development of societally-based perspectives often began with the recognition that
science is highly relevant within society. This thematic cluster was separated into three specific
themes: helping people, interacting with others, and impacting the world.
Theme 4: Helping people
Participants in this theme indicated that they aspired to obtain STEM careers to help people;
through their responses, they emphasized their belief in the importance of contributing to the
world. Responses in many cases directly included phrases such as “helping others”, “curing
people”, and “contributing to society”. One of the most apparent inclusions found in the responses
related to future STEM career choices (Q1 and Q2) was that many students included words related
to medical professionals (e.g., doctors, neurosurgeons, pediatricians, and surgeons), medical
schools, and medical engineering. Participants’ responses showed that most of them, in pursuing
a career in which they could help people, decided to become medical professionals. For example,
one student mentioned, “If I become a pediatrician, I will be able to apply my skills to help sick
people, in particular the people who do not have enough money”. Social convention toward
medical professionals is also an important factor for students’ career choices. Nearly every student
who expressed interest in becoming a doctor mentioned that their experiences during childhood
and adolescence with positive and encouraging doctors who took the time to explain symptoms,
procedures, etc. to them influenced their decisions to pursue the profession. Doctors are
professionals who translate sympathy into action in people’s lives. Because of their frequent
contact with doctors growing up, several of the students felt that they better understood what
doctors do for people and perceived the profession as one in which your role is to both improve
and save peoples’ lives. From these students’ perspectives, science is directly used to diagnose
illnesses, and acquiring scientific knowledge to cure people was essential to them. For instance,
one student viewed science as “basic knowledge required to understand the human body”, and
thought that proficiency in science would allow her to “effectively help others by becoming a good
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
44
doctor”. The students realized they could not become doctors without a comprehensive
understanding of science. This realization may have influenced the importance of academic
achievement among students in this thematic cluster.
Theme 5: Interacting with others
Participants in this theme focused on the opportunities to interact with others in STEM areas. Due
to the relevance of STEM disciplines and topics in the 21st century, there is a greater importance
placed on sharing and discussing STEM-related subjects and ideas. Therefore, the ability to
intelligently contribute to STEM-related discussions is useful and important. One student in this
theme acknowledged the value of intellectual discourse when discussing her interest in STEM,
mentioning that, “Being able to have an intelligent conversation is very important to make a
connection with others”. In the same vein, other respondents indicated that they wanted to pursue
STEM careers because they viewed STEM occupations as instruments through which they could
communicate with others about important 21st century ideas and topics. These students
demonstrated the importance of having comprehensive scientific knowledge, and learning about
scientific concepts and topics to obtain STEM-related jobs and effectively discuss relevant 21st
century topics. Therefore, the students became interested in science due to their initial interest in
STEM careers. Most of these students talked about becoming general scientists. In their responses,
they did not indicate a specific career they wanted to pursue, but they did express a desire to major
in science disciplines. The field of science contains numerous subdisciplines, and because of this,
students were unlikely to have a comprehensive understanding of every science-based major or
career. Although they did not know precisely what scientific career or major they wanted to pursue,
the students knew that they wanted to continue their study and engagement in science through
science majors and careers.
Theme 6: Impacting the world
Participants in this theme indicated that they aspired to obtain STEM careers because they wanted
occupations in which they could contribute to the development of society. One of the most
noticeable points was that many students considered technology a critical factor in the
development of society. Responses in many cases directly included words such as “the
development of society/world”, “innovation”, and “technology”. Most students who mentioned
STEM stated that “Science is everywhere”, and “STEM changes the world”. One student who
wanted to be a technology professional (computer scientist) stated, “Whether we see it or not,
science is changing and shaping our society. It creates convenient methods to live in this society”.
Another student who wanted to pursue a career as an engineer also mentioned, “Science will
always be inventing and discovering new things that will change how we look at the world”. These
students wanted careers in STEM fields because they believed their work through such occupations
would allow them to bring greater convenience and innovation to the world. Other students in this
category were also well aware of the interconnectedness of their career aspirations with science.
In the future, they wanted to enter technology or engineering occupations such as computer
programming and engineering. Several students wanted to become leaders in these fields; for
example, one student wanted to develop a technology company. They believed that through
working in STEM areas, especially technology and engineering, they could directly make
significant contributions to their society and the world.
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Some students demonstrated multiple perspectives. For example, one respondent mentioned,
“Science explains literally everything in the world. I love learning about why things are the way
they are, and the ability to help/contribute society beneficially will give me an inner, intrinsic sense
of content and value”. His responses indicated that his perceptive is a co-mingled product of
personal and societal context. His perspective shows that he loves learning science because science
provides him an inner and intrinsic sense of purpose. This personal context led to his desire to
obtain a STEM career, and eventually he expects that his career, which is related to STEM, will
contribute toward benefitting the world. People choose STEM fields and careers not only to
develop their personal lives but also to hopefully contribute toward improving society. We did not
consider this dual context (i.e., personal and societal context) in the present study.
Discussion
In the present study, we investigated students’ perspectives toward STEM that impacted their
STEM career aspirations by analyzing participants’ responses using qualitative analysis with
frequency distributions. Through our research, we have gained a greater understanding of both
students’ personal context and their societal context when they consider science and STEM career
aspirations. During the study, six different themes emerged based on students’ perspectives
expressed in their responses and were categorized under personal or societal context. These six
themes included the following: personal context-positive emotion, personal development, and
tools for the job; and societal context-helping people, interacting with others, and impacting the
world.
Students approach STEM career aspirations and science differently based on these themes, which
are oriented toward personal or societal contexts. Students whose perspectives fit under the
category of personal context first develop interest in science due to the discipline’s relevance. For
example, students whose initial interest in science is expressed through comments such as “I am
interested in science because I have had great science-related experiences” (positive emotion),
“Science helps me to become a well-rounded person” (personal development), and “Science is an
important tool for my career” (tools for the job) are more likely to pursue STEM careers. These
students have positive perspectives toward science and aspire to obtain STEM-related jobs to
maintain their positive connection with science. Conversely, students in the thematic cluster of
societal context are typically first interested in STEM careers, and this interest in STEM
occupations increases the significance they attribute to science in their lives. For example, students
who mainly have societal perspectives tend to initially pursue STEM careers and then think about
the importance of science within the STEM careers they selected. Statements like “I know the
importance of science, which is used in STEM careers to help people (helping people); to engage
people in discussions of 21st century STEM-related topics (interacting with others); and, to
contribute to the development of society (impacting the world).” These different connections
between students’ STEM career aspirations and their personal/societal perspectives suggest the
importance of the consideration of both personal and societal perspectives.
Students’ perspectives toward the importance of science from their personal and societal
perspectives are proximal factors that influence critical STEM career aspiration junctures.
Interaction among personal perspectives including internal cognitive and affective states and
societal perspectives such as external environmental factors make students become “both products
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
46
and producers of their environment” (Wood & Bandura, 1989, p. 362) with the potential for
personal agency in their career choices (Lent et al., 2012). In particular, the transactions occurring
between persons and their environments develop individuals’ perspectives toward academic areas,
and then become a fundamental cause of their career aspirations (Osipow, 1990). Previous studies
(e.g., Betsworth & Fouad, 1997) as well as evidence from the present study indicate that students’
perspectives toward science can influence their vocational interests, which are important
determinants of career aspirations. However, results from this study also reveal that, in some
instances, students’ vocational interests were important determinants of their perspectives toward
science. The results from this study support the ideas of SCCT, which establishes the concept that
personal and societal contexts have a significant influence on the development of students’ career
aspirations. Identifying and understanding students’ perspectives from a personal context helps
determine the direct factors influencing both their career aspirations and decisions. On the other
hand, Identifying and understanding students’ perspectives from a societal context may allow
educators and researchers to obtain more effective ideas on how to stimulate positive perspectives
from students’ personal context. In addition, the results of this study indicate that students’ societal
context may have a direct influence on their STEM career aspirations. The implications of this
finding regarding societal context differ slightly from the description and understanding of societal
context within the SCCT framework, in which societal context directly influences personal context
and personal context directly influences an individual’s career choices. Because both students’
personal and societal perspectives arise from their experiences (Rudduck & Flutter, 2000),
understanding how students’ experience became an initial cause of their perspectives can provide
important information for educators who can then make informed decisions regarding instructional
and curricular changes and reform. Personal and societal perspectives are formed from students’
positive experiences.
The results indicate that students’ perspectives toward the importance of science and STEM career
aspirations are influenced by their positive personal experiences related to science or particular
STEM careers. Positive experiences lead to positive perspectives toward subject knowledge of a
discipline and then STEM careers (Osipow, 1990; Rudduck & Flutter, 2000). That is, positive
experiences lead to positive perspectives toward particular STEM careers, which can then lead to
positive perspectives toward science. Therefore, accessibility to STEM-related situations is
important for students’ STEM career aspirations. Providing an opportunity to approach from the
other context (personal/societal) can help students broaden their perspectives and maintain their
pursuit toward STEM-related careers. Educators need to be aware of this and facilitate many
opportunities for increasing and motivating positive perspectives toward science and choosing
STEM careers. Teaching methods that positively impact students’ perspectives toward STEM
education and careers need to be considered. Because accessibility and practicality lead students
to gain a positive perspective toward science and aspirations of STEM careers, teacher need to
employ engaging STEM activities. These activities may encourage students to develop positive
personal perspectives related to the present study’s personal context themes of positive emotion,
personal development, and tools for the job as well as societal perspectives such as helping people,
interacting with others, and impacting the world. Therefore, the results from the present study
suggest the importance of pedagogical strategies that promote providing students with experiences
related to STEM topics and careers.
International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(5), 36–48, 2018
47
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding for this project was granted by the Texas Workforce Commission - Governor’s Science and Technology
Champions’ Academy (RFP# 320-17-05). We would also like to thank Aggie STEM for access to the data and
facilitating this camp.
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