Investigation of STEM Subject and Career Aspirations of Lower Secondary School Students in the North Calotte Region of Finland, Norway, and Russia

This study investigates the suitability of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) to measure secondary school students’ aspirations towards STEM subjects and careers. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the initial structural validity of the adapted STEM-CIS survey, wher...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education sciences 2022-03, Vol.12 (3), p.192
Main Authors: Tomperi, Päivi, Kvivesen, Mona, Manshadi, Saeed, Uteng, Stig, Shestova, Yulia, Lyash, Oleg, Lazareva, Irina, Lyash, Asya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Career Development
Careers
Engineering
Gender differences
Gender equity
gender gap
instrument validation
Learning
Mathematics education
Motivation
Objectives
Parent Participation
Science Curriculum
Science education
Secondary school students
Secondary schools
social cognitive career theory
STEM education
STEM professions
Stereotypes
Student Interests
Technology education
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Summary:This study investigates the suitability of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) to measure secondary school students’ aspirations towards STEM subjects and careers. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the initial structural validity of the adapted STEM-CIS survey, where the science subscale was extended to four science disciplines, to align with the way science is taught in Finland and Russia. The results indicate that the interest in STEM subjects in general is not at a high level in any of the countries. There is a traditional gender gap regarding STEM subjects in every dimension, which favors females in biology and males in technology and engineering. STEM stereotypes among students—due to low exposure to STEM professions at school—can explain students’ low interest despite high self-efficacies. Our study shows that we must increase informal learning opportunities inside and outside school and improve career counselling for students so that they will be more informed of STEM career opportunities.
ISSN:2227-7102
2227-7102
DOI:10.3390/educsci12030192