Abstract
Although science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) study paths and STEM work fields may be relatively difficult and therefore not appropriate for everyone, too many children prematurely exclude STEM-related study and work options, based on negative images of the field or negative ability beliefs. In the present article, we provide an overview of the literature from different research perspectives that shows that study choice and career decisions made by young adults have their roots in earlier in childhood. In our view, the literature reviewed points to three interrelated factors that are important in the study choice and career development of children aged 8–16: knowledge, affective value, and ability beliefs and self-efficacy building. Based on this review, we argue that knowledge of the STEM field, and of the self in STEM activities, and parents’ and teachers’ knowledge of the early circumscription processes of children aged 8–16 needs to be broadened. Also, negative and often-stereotypical affective values adhered to STEM study choices or careers among parents and teachers need to be countered. With regard to ability beliefs, we argue that we should focus more attention on turning pupils’ entity beliefs into incremental ones.
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References
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This research was supported by a research Grant from the National Center of Expertise in Technology Education “TechYourFuture”, The Netherlands.
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Appendix: details of the studies that were used in our overview
Appendix: details of the studies that were used in our overview
References | Publication type | Design empirical study | N | Country | Age range |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sociological themes (SES, cultural capital, family beliefs) | |||||
Schulenberg et al. (1984) | Review | ||||
Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) | Theoretical | ||||
Cook et al. (1996) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 220 | US | 8, 10, 12.5 and 14.5 |
Rojewski and Yang (1997) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 18311 | US | 14–18 |
O’Brien et al. (1999) | Empirical | Experimental | 57 | US | 11–14 |
Vilhjalmsdottir and Arnkelsson (2003) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 911 | Iceland | 15–16 |
Watson and McMahon (2005) | Review | 13 or younger | |||
Archer et al. (2012a) | Empirical | Qualitative, first wave longitudinal | 92 | UK | 10 |
Gutman et al. (2012) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 21000 | UK | 14–18 |
Beal and Crockett (2013) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 636 | US | 14–16 |
Doren et al. (2013) | Empirical | Experimental | 111 | US | 14–17 |
Archer et al. (2014) | Empirical | Cohort study, partly longitudinal | 5634/85 | UK | 12–13 |
Vocational psychology | |||||
Tracey and Ward (1998) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 739 | US | 10–14 |
Spokane et al. (2000) | Review | ||||
Tracey (2002) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 348 | US | 10–12 |
Helwig (2003) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 208 | US | 7–17 |
Graziano et al. (2012) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 233 | US | Study 2: 9 and 12 |
Pinxten et al. (2012) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 2518 | Belgium (Flanders) | 15 |
Psychological themes (interest, motivation, task value) | |||||
Eccles (1983) | Theoretical | ||||
Lent et al. (1994) | Theoretical and meta-analysis | ||||
Fouad and Smith (1996) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 380 | US | 12–15 |
Jodl et al. (2001) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 444 | US | 14–15 |
Eccles and Wigfield (2002) | Review | ||||
Lent et al. (2003) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 796 | Italy | 14–18 |
Turner and Lapan (2003) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 254 | US | 13–14 |
Durik et al. (2006) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 606 | US | 10 and 16 |
Lent et al. (2008) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 209 | US | 17–18 |
Ali and Saunders (2009) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 63 | US | 14–18 |
Jantzer et al. (2009) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 820 | US | 14 |
Sheu et al. (2010) | Meta-analysis | >14 | |||
Fulcher (2011) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 150 | US | 7–12 |
Chow et al. (2012) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 600 | US and Finland | 14–18 |
Watt et al. (2012) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 1247 | Australia, Canada, US | 15–16, 17–18 |
Lent and Brown (2013) | Theoretical | ||||
Robnett and Leaper (2013) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 468 | US | 13–18 |
Gender | |||||
Helwig (1998b) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 208 | US | 7–11 |
Liben et al. (2002) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 64 and 51 | US | 6–11 and 6–10 |
Schoon and Parsons (2002) | Empirical | Cohort studies, cross-sectional | 11016 and 6417 | UK | 16 |
Fuller et al. (2005) | Empirical | Cross-sectional and qualitative | 1281 and 73 | UK | 14–15 |
Miller and Hayward (2006) | Empirical | cross-sectional | 508 | UK | 14–18 |
Ceci et al. (2009) | Review | ||||
Weisgram et al. (2010) | Empirical | Cross-sectional and experimental | 313 and 240 | US | 5–10 and 11–17 |
Beltz et al. (2011) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 125 | US | 9–26 |
Cvencek et al. (2011) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 247 | US | 6–10 |
Novakovic and Fouad (2012) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 217 | US | 14–19 |
Vervecken et al. (2013) | Empirical | Experimental | 352 | Germany and Belgium | 6–12 and 6–16 |
Educational studies (curriculum, teachers, career guidance) | |||||
Haney et al. (1996) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 800 | US | (teachers) |
Harlen and Holroyd (1997) | Empirical | Qualitative | 60 | UK | (teachers) |
Appleton and Kindt (1999) | Empirical | Qualitative | 9 | Australia | (teachers) |
Li (1999) | Review | ||||
McWhirter et al. (2000) | Empirical | Experimental | 166 | US | 15 |
Harkins (2001) | Review | 6–12 | |||
Hoffman (2002) | Empirical | Experimental | 456 | Germany | 13 |
Cleaves (2005) | Empirical | Longitudinal, qualitative | 21/4 | UK | 13–17 |
Rasinen et al. (2009) | Descriptive | Finland and Germany | |||
Olszewski-Kubilius (2010) | Descriptive | US | |||
Halpern et al. (2011) | Descriptive | US | |||
Krapp and Prenzel (2011) | Overview | ||||
Whiston et al. (2011) | Meta-analysis | 16296 | 8–20 | ||
Van Aalderen-Smeets et al. (2012) | Theoretical | ||||
Meluso et al. (2012) | Empirical | Experimental | 100 | US | 9 |
Schmitt-Wilson and Welsh (2012) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 132 | US | 10–13 |
Life-span or developmental studies | |||||
Gottfredson (1981) | Theoretical | ||||
Gottfredson (1996) | Theoretical | ||||
Helwig (1998a) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 208 | US | 7–11 |
Vondracek et al. (1999) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 685 | Germany | 10–13 |
Armstrong and Crombie (2000) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 502 | Canada | 14, 15 |
Helwig (2008) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 208 | US | 7–23 |
Lee and Rojewski (2009) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 26432 | US | 14, 16, 18, 20, 26 |
Jenkins and Nelson (2010) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 1277 | UK | 13–17 |
Hughes (2011) | Empirical | Experimental | 46 | US | 10–13 |
Lang (2012) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 113 | Australia | 8–12 |
Perez-Felkner et al. (2012) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 2990 | US | 16 |
DeWitt et al. (2013) | Empirical | Cross-sectional, part of longitudinal | 9319 | UK | 10–14 |
Mixed | |||||
Bandura et al. (2001) | Empirical | Cross-sectional (first wave longitudinal) | 272 | Italy | 12–15 |
Osborne et al. (2003) | Review | ||||
Auger et al. (2005) | Empirical | Cross-sectional | 123 | US | 6–10 |
Hartung et al. (2005) | Review | 3–14 | |||
Schoon et al. (2007) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 21294 | UK | 0, 16, (30, 33) |
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2008) | Empirical | Cohort study | Unknown | 15 countries | 15–19 |
Ashby and Schoon (2010) | Empirical | Longitudinal | 3675 | UK | 16 |
Archer et al. (2012b) | Empirical | Qualitative, first wave longitudinal | 92/17 | UK | 10–11 |
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van Tuijl, C., van der Molen, J.H.W. Study choice and career development in STEM fields: an overview and integration of the research. Int J Technol Des Educ 26, 159–183 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-015-9308-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-015-9308-1