1 Introduction

Adolescents’ decisions about which major to pursue in high school often constitute their first step toward a career orientation. Previous studies suggested that high school major decisions are often gendered so that science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields are predominantly male and the humanities are predominately female (Buser et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2023). While research has shown that this gendered decision-making pattern has far-reaching individual and social consequences, including future earnings gaps and persistent gender segregation (Dahl et al., 2023; Piepenburg & Fervers, 2022), little is known about which familial and individual factors enable adolescents to autonomously choose a high school major that reflects their values and preferences.

The current study is based on the theoretical assumptions of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT-Ryan & Deci, 2019). SDT views self-endorsed motives as the antecedents of growth and adaptation (Dietrich et al., 2011; Van Petegm et al., 2012) and emphasizes the critical role of significant others in enhancing this self-endorsed motivation by providing a need-supporting environment (Cohen et al., 2023; Katz & Cohen, 2014; Lucas et al., 2021).

To understand the mechanisms by which parental need support fosters autonomous career choice and identify what sort of decisions require more parental need support than others, the current study focused on the role of parental need support in adolescents’ ability to make their high-school major choices. Drawing on previous studies that have pointed to associations between parental need support and adolescents’ identity style (La Guardia, 2009; Luyckx et al., 2009) and studies that have linked identity style with autonomous motivation (Arden et al., 2022; Smits et al., 2010), we examined the role of adolescents’ identity processing style in the association between parental need support and adolescents’ autonomous decisions. Since there is little gender-related research within SDT, specifically on gender differences in providing parental need support and its outcomes, we investigated the moderating role of adolescents’ gender. The hypotheses were examined separately for students who chose to major in STEM fields, and students who chose to major in other fields (non-STEM), given the evidence on gender differences in perceived need-support and motivation within domains (Xia et al., 2023).

1.1 Parental support in adolescents’ decision-making

The current study examined the choice of high school major using the theoretical framework of the SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2019). From the perspective of SDT, an individual’s reasons or sources for intentional action can be situated along a continuum representing the relative autonomy felt towards a specific behavior. At one end of the continuum are motives that stem from integrating the action with personal beliefs or with the value of an action (autonomous motivation to act). At the other end of the continuum are controlled motivations to act originating from internal pressures (guilt, a sense of obligation) or external pressures (expecting a benefit or avoiding sanctions) (Ryan & Deci, 2019). Studies within the SDT framework suggest that when parents provide support for the three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, and competence), they offer an essential contextual resource to promote autonomous adolescent functioning (Katz et al., 2018; Lucas et al., 2021). Need-supporting parents seek and acknowledge their children’s perspectives, give meaningful rationales, and nurture their internal motivation, interest, and enjoyment. In contrast, psychologically controlling parents tend to motivate children by inducing internal (e.g., guilt-induction) or external (e.g., intimidating, use of behaviorally contingent rewards) pressure (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2010), thereby frustrating their children’s basic needs.

The SDT conceptualization thus suggests that adolescents whose psychological needs are supported by their parents will be more likely to make an autonomous decision about their major characterized by a perceived locus of causality that is integrated with their beliefs and values (Katz et al., 2018; Kocayörük et al., 2015). In choosing a high school major, an autonomous decision is likely to be derived from adolescents’ interest in the subject and their identification with the value of learning about it, accompanied by a sense of choice and volition. SDT studies in college students showed that increased parental support was associated with greater career exploration and satisfaction with the college (Dietrich et al., 2011; Van Petegem et al., 2012) and less chronic career indecision (Guay et al., 2006). Conversely, controlling environments were associated with controlled regulation which involves feeling pressured, coerced, or seduced into action (Chemolli & Gagné, 2014; Phillips & Johnson, 2018).

1.2 Adolescents identity processing styles

One of the most crucial tasks during adolescence involves the exploration of identity-relevant alternatives and making important life decisions (Erikson, 1968). Berzonsky’s model (1990) describes reliable style differences in how adolescents process identity-relevant information, make personal decisions, and negotiate identity-relevant problems. This model proposes three identity-processing orientations: the informative, the normative, and the diffuse-avoidant. An informative style is typical of adolescents who actively construct a sense of identity by seeking and evaluating self-relevant information before making decisions and forming commitments. These adolescents take a critical attitude toward their self-conceptions, are open to new information and are willing to revise aspects of their identity when faced with discrepant information about themselves (Berzonsky, 2003). A normative style is typical of adolescents who rely on the prescriptions and expectations of significant others (such as parents and authority figures) when confronted with identity-relevant problems. These adolescents are ‘closed’ to information that may undermine their beliefs and values and defensively preserve rigidly organized identity commitments (Berzonsky, 1990). Adolescents with a diffuse-avoidant style strive to avoid personal conflicts and identity-relevant problems. These individuals continually adjust their attitudes and behaviors to current social demands and consequences without making long-term revisions to their identity structure (Berzonsky, 1990). Such strategies are likely to result in a fragmented, loosely integrated identity structure (Berzonsky & Ferrari, 2009).

Studies bridging the SDT with Berzonsky’s social-cognitive model suggest that the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs is an important determinant of one’s ability to formulate a clear and integrated personal stance on important existential issues such as ideology, values, relationships, and life goals (Arden et al., 2022; La Guardia, 2009; Luyckx et al., 2007, 2009). When people’s basic psychological needs are satisfied, they will have the vitality and energy necessary to engage in identity-construction strategies. In contrast, when people’s needs are frustrated, they may be more likely to take shorter and less energy-consuming trajectories of identity formation, by either defensively avoiding any change or by adopting volatile and situation-specific identity commitments (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2010). Translated into the context of high-school major decisions, this implies that parental autonomy support may play an energizing role in a proactive exploration of different identity issues and the endorsement of specific identity option commitments. This informative type of identity processing style, in turn, is likely to allow adolescents to freely and volitionally choose a high school major that reflects their interests and ambitions. By contrast, low levels of parental need support may be associated with adolescents’ normative identity style and lower levels of autonomy in choosing a high school major. Adolescents whose behavior is primarily initiated and guided by introjected standards and the expectations of significant others are more likely to rely on normative prescriptions and the expectations of important authority figures when making identity-relevant decisions (Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2010).

1.3 Gender differences in autonomous motivation

Partly due to the SDT’s fundamental principle of universality (Vansteenkiste et al., 2020), only a limited number of studies have focused on gender-related differences within the SDT framework. There is evidence to suggest, however, that the well-known association between parental need support and students’ motivation may be affected by gender (Modrek et al., 2021). One possible explanation for this finding is that boys and girls differ in their perceptions and reactions to need-supporting behaviors (Lietaert et al., 2015; Mammadov & Schroeder, 2023). For example, Katz (2016) found that girls’ tendency to perceive their teachers more positively mediated gender differences in motivation and emotional experience. Gender differences were also observed in boys’ and girls’ reactions to teacher support (Opdenakker, 2021). Kiefler & Pennington (2017) found that girls were more likely to perceive and respond to teacher support, whereas boys perceived and responded more to teacher criticism.

Gender differences in students’ perceptions and reactions to need support may be domain-specific (Katz et al., 2006) so that need support may be more important for none-gender-stereotyped fields. Modrek et al. (2021) found that female adolescent reported wanting more autonomy in math and science than boys. By contrast, girls reported getting more autonomy in English than boys. Focusing on physical education, which is considered a social context in which gender-stereotyped expectations are very strong, Shen et al. (2015) found that high levels of need support provided by teachers could enhance girls’ value of physical education and lessen their feeling of the unappealing characteristics of the learning tasks. Although these studies dealt with teachers rather than parents, their findings suggest that the perceived need-support may be more crucial for students’ autonomous motivation when they engage in activities that breach the bounds of “gender appropriate.”

1.4 Gender differences in STEM and non-STEM education

Despite the overall change in women’s participation in education and the workforce, gender differences persist in STEM (Charlesworth & Banaji, 2019). Already evident in preschool (Baker et al., 2016) and elementary school (Cvencek et al., 2021), boys and girls show different interests and vary in what they value and expect in future occupations (Van der Vleuten et al., 2016). While males prefer occupational opportunities for promotion, earnings, challenge, and power, females emphasize communal goals and intrinsic rewards, such as interpersonal relationships, affiliation, and altruism (Quadlin, 2020). These educational expectations and choices are consolidated in adolescence, in that boys are more likely to choose STEM, and girls tend to choose non-STEM tracks (Lazarides & Lauermann, 2019). Studies have also shown that girls report lower efficacy than boys, especially in math and science (Huang, 2013), which further declines throughout elementary school and in the transition to secondary school (Arens & Hasselhorn, 2014; Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005).

These observed gender differences in STEM education have stimulated a large body of biological (Ellis et al., 2011), psychological (Tellhed et al., 2017), cognitive (Reilly et al., 2017), and sociological research (Weeden et al., 2020) designed to search for possible explanatory mechanisms for these differences. Sociocultural explanations for gender differences in education have received the most research attention, suggesting that gender differences result from individuals’ accommodations to social restrictions, expectations, and opportunities (Eagly et al., 2000; Steele & Aronson, 1995). Interactions and experiences with parents and siblings inform the multiple domains of gender development and teach children the gender norms of their culture (Skinner & McHale, 2022). However, the influence of different socializing agents may change over the life cycle, with teachers becoming more influential as children enter school (Molla, 2016).

Gender segregation in STEM is especially pronounced in gender-progressive societies (Chow & Charles, 2020), probably due to the gendering effect of self-expressive ideology. A long line of research suggested that career decisions are considered vehicles for personal self-expression in advantaged and culturally privileged societies (Blank et al., 2022; Budge et al., 2023). Sacrificing material rewards to pursue a passion (or presumed passion) is more culturally legitimate (O’Keefe et al., 2022), especially for women in these societies, who are generally not expected to be the primary breadwinners. Therefore, when parents in gender-progressive cultures encourage their children to express their “true selves” individually and autonomously, children may express their “gendered selves” by choosing a gender-stereotyped high school major (Charles & Bradely 2009).

2 The current study

Among the core hypotheses of SDT in education is that more autonomous forms of motivation are likely to enhance students’ engagement, learning, and well-being. Psychological need support facilitates this motivation, whereas need thwarting undermines it (Ryan & Deci, 2019). However, little is known about the mediating and moderating factors that affect the relationship between need-based experiences and autonomous motivation in decision-making. The current study has two main objectives. First, we examined the mediating role of adolescents’ identity processing style in the association between perceived parental need support and adolescents’ level of autonomy when choosing their high school major. Second, we examined whether these proposed relationships differed for gender-stereotyped (girls decide to major in non-STEM fields and boys decide to major in STEM fields) and non-stereotyped fields (girls decide to major in STEM and boys decide to major in non-STEM).

Focusing on the predictors of adolescents’ autonomous motivation in choosing a high school major, we explored the SDT’s “bright” socialization path (linking perceived parental need support to autonomous motivation), rather that the “dark” socialization pathway (linking controlling parenting to controlled motivation, Haerens et al., 2015). The dual-process motivation model of SDT suggests that controlling parenting is different from the lack of parental autonomy support (Bartholomew et al., 2011; Li et al., 2018). An active frustration of children’s needs is not the same as not satisfying them. Moreover, while controlling parenting is associated with maladaptive children’ outcomes, low autonomy support may not be necessarily associated with children’s ill-being (Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013).

Based on the literature review above, we formed these hypotheses: (H1) Parents’ need support will be associated with increased adolescents’ autonomous motivation for choosing a high school major. (H2) Adolescents’ identity processing styles will mediate the association between parents’ need support and adolescents’ motivation. The more parents support adolescents’ needs, the more these adolescents will actively seek out, process, and evaluate self-relevant information (i.e., informative identity processing style). (H3) Pursuing non-gender stereotyped fields would be associated with increased levels of parental need support compared to pursuing gender-stereotyped fields. Specifically, we expected that in the STEM fields, the relationship between parental need support and adolescents’ autonomous motivation would be stronger for girls than for boys. In contrast, we expected that in the non-STEM fields, the relationship between parental need support and adolescents’ autonomous motivation would be stronger for boys than for girls (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
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Conceptual study model (Exmined Speratedely for non-STEM and STEM Fields)

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2.1 The study context

The above hypotheses were tested in a sample of Israeli male and female 9th graders who applied for high school and were asked to indicate their selected high school major. The Israeli secondary school curriculum (grades 10–12) comprises required and elective courses that can be studied at different difficulty levels (Ayalon & Yogev, 1997). Full matriculation, a prerequisite for university admissions, requires a passing score in seven basic-level mandatory subjects and at least one advanced-level elective in STEM (e.g., mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computer science) or non-STEM subjects (e.g., art, psychology, sociology, literature, history, bible). Compared to other countries, Israel is positioned in the two thirds of the three-dimension typology of educational systems (tracking, enrollment, and specificity) (Bol & van de Werfhorst, 2013). It is characterized by late selection (age 15, similar to the US), very few tracks (somewhat closer to the trackless US system), and (unlike Germany and the Scandinavian countries) virtually no vocational specificity (Gabay-Egozi & Yaish, 2021). The education–occupation linkages in Israel represent a moderate association between educational credentials and specific jobs (Kraus et al., 1998). High school tracking was associated with the achievement of higher education degrees, as well as future income levels (Bar-Haim & Feniger, 2021). This link underscores the significant role that the selection of a high school major plays in students’ educational and career trajectories.

The pressure surrounding highschool major decision is particularly acute in Israel, where students typically undergo 2–4 years of military service immediately following high school. This compulsory service delays the commencement of their higher education journey, contrasting with the timelines of their counterparts in other countries. Moreover, altering one’s educational track or completing additional education to qualify for a desired major post-military service presents significant challenges.

Israel is considered to have one of the world’s most innovative high-tech and biotech sectors (Chachashvili-Bolotin et al., 2016). Encouraging students to pursue STEM fields in secondary and tertiary institutions has become one of the most important national goals (Senor & Singer, 2009). However, despite increasing efforts to create gender equality in higher education, in Israel, like most countries, women are overrepresented in health, education, humanities, and social sciences, and underrepresented in STEM and engineering (Almagor-Lotan & Goldschmidt, 2010). In 2017, women comprised only 37% and 33% of the students in physics and mathematics B.A. programs, respectively (Lerer & Avgar, 2018). These gender disparities in education are already evident in high school. The number of boys who attended the matriculation exams in physics was 3.5 higher than that of girls (Bracelevski et al., 2019) and in computer sciences, more than two times higher than that of girls (Dvir, 2021). Echoing findings from other countries (Breda et al., 2020; Chow & Charles, 2020), gender segregation in STEM education in Israel is more dominant in middle-high socioeconomic societies, where values such as self-expression and self-fulfillment are more dominant than future earning or social mobility (Blank et al., 2022).

3 Method

3.1 Participants and procedure

A total of 571 9th grade students took part (296 boys and 275 girls). Of the total sample, 395 students (167 boys) chose non-STEM majors and 176 chose STEM majors (129 boys). The participants were recruited from two Jewish schools in Israel. Both schools serve higher socioeconomic population according to the Ministry of Education’s socioeconomic index (2022). Students completed the questionnaires at the time of choosing their high school major, around three months before the end of the 9th grade school year. The Institutional Review Board (#1652-1) and the Ministry of Education (#RO-848) gave ethical approval for this study. The school principals approved the survey administration. Consistent with the IRB’s and the Ministry of Education’s regulations concerning anonymous data collection, the respondents’ parents were sent an information letter about the study and were asked to state whether they refused to give permission for their child to participate. Eight parents refused, and their children were assigned an alternative activity while the others completed the questionnaires.

Data were collected about three weeks before students had to announce their choice of major to the school authorities, a time frame when adolescents typically delve into the decision-making process. At that time, middle schools usually conduct group and individual consultation meetings and discuss students’ preferences and competencies. Students’ announcement of their major may not necessarily be accepted by schools if their scores do not meet the major’s criteria. However, since this announcement follows a prolonged process of preparation, students’ choices are mostly realistic. We measured the students’ perceptions of parental need support, the adolescents’ identity styles, high school major preferences, and the extent to which the adolescents’ decision was made autonomously.

3.2 Measures

Responses to all items were made on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). All questionnaire items were adapted from existing measures to refer to choosing a high school major.

3.2.1 Need-supportive parenting style

Adolescents’ perceptions of their parents as need-supportive while choosing their high school major were assessed using an adapted version of a measure by Katz et al. (2018). Participants were instructed to fill out a questionnaire addressing aspects related to both their mother and father simultaneously. The scale included 12 items assessing adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ support during decision-making. They reported on the extent to which their parents provided a pertinent rationale for their options, allowed for criticism, showed acceptance and empathy, minimized social comparisons, trusted their adolescents’ ability, and offered constructive help in choosing their major. (An example item is " My parents encouraged me to talk about what I think and feel regarding this decision.” The scores were averaged on the items so that higher scores represented higher perceptions of parental need-support (Cronbach’s α = 0.82).

3.2.2 Adolescents’ autonomous motivation for choosing a high major

Was assessed using an adapted version of a measure by Katz et al. (2018) to assess students’ autonomous motivation to choose. Twelve items evaluated the extent to which adolescents chose their major for autonomous reasons such as interest and understanding the relevance of their choice to their future goals. (an example item: I chose to study this major subject because it is most suitable for my interests and abilities). The scores were averaged on the items so that a higher score represented a higher autonomously-driven decision (α = 0.84).

3.2.3 Identity processing style

Students’ identity style was assessed using an adapted version of the Identity Processing Style Inventory (ISI-5; Berzonsky et al., 2013). This inventory indexes the three social-cognitive styles (informative, normative, and diffuse-avoidant) in terms of coping with personal problems and negotiating identity issues: (1) The informational-style scale (9 items: e.g., “When I have to make a decision, I like to spend a lot of time thinking about my options; α = 0.84). (2) The diffuse-avoidant- style scale (9 items: e.g., “I’m not really thinking about my future now; it’s still a long way off,”; α = 0.84): and (3) The normative-style scale (9 items: e.g., “I find it is best for me to rely on the advice of close friends or relatives when I have a problem”; α = 0.50.

3.2.4 High school major preferences

Students were asked to report which major they asked to study when they officially applied for high school. As noted, students’ choice of a high school major may not necessarily be accepted by schools if their scores do not meet this major’s criteria. However, since this announcement follows a prolonged process of personal and school preparation, students’ choices are mostly realistic and be accepted by their high schools. In the current study, participants were asked to indicate their choice of a high school major from a list of 14 typical majors in Israeli schools or indicate their choice under the category of “other.” The STEM majors included mathematics, computer science, physics, and chemistry. The non-STEM majors included the fine arts, Arabic language and literature, Hebrew literature, geography, history, physical education, the social sciences, theater, communication, and music.

3.3 Data analysis

Bivariate Pearson correlations between the variables were calculated. Next, conditional process modeling was used to test the mediating effect of identity processing styles and the moderating effect of gender on the association between perceived parental need support and adolescents’ motivation during the choice of their high school major. We ran this model separately for non-STEM and STEM fields, using the PROCESS macro model 5 (Hayes, 2013). An alpha level of 0.05 was applied for all statistical tests. Power calculations indicated that for multiple regression with five predictors and a power of 0.8, a minimum of 91 participants was required. Data analyses were carried out on SPSS Windows 26.0.

4 Results

Preliminary descriptives statistics showed significant gender differences in high school major preferences (Χ² (1) = 46.92, p <.001): while 43.6% of the boys (n = 129) chose to major in STEM fields, only 17% of the girls (N = 47) chose to major in STEM. In contrast, while 56.4% of the boys (n = 167) chose to major in non-STEM fields, 83% of the girls (n = 228) chose to major in non-STEM fields.

Tables 1 and 2 present the correlations between the variables in the non-STEM field and STEM fields, respectively. As seen in both tables, adolescents’ experiences of autonomous choice were positively associated with need-supporting parenting and informative identity processing styles (for non-STEM majors: r =.52 and r =.46, respectively and for STEM majors: (r =.61 and r =.42, respectively). In addition, adolescents’ autonomous choices in non-STEM fields were positively related to a normative identity processing style and negatively to a diffuse style (r =.12, and r = −.13, respectively).

Table 1 Pearson correlations between study variables in non-STEM Fields (n = 395)
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Table 2 Pearson correlations between study variables in STEM fields (n = 176)
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Given that only the informative identity processing style was significantly associated with parental need support and autonomous choice, only this style was examined as a mediator in the regression analyses. We also tested the correlations between study variables for boys and girls, separately (Please see Supplementary 1).

4.1 Mediation-moderation model for choosing a high school major

To examine the mediating role of informative identity processing style and the moderating role of gender in the relationship between parental need-support and students’ autonomous motivation for choosing a high school major, we conducted two moderation-mediation analyses: one for the non-STEM fields and the other for the STEM fields. We used model 5 in PROCESS (Hayes, 2013).

4.1.1 Choosing a non-STEM major

First, we tested the roles of identity processing style and gender in the association between need-supporting parenting and adolescents’ autonomous choice of a non-STEM major. The results showed that the model was significant F(4, 349) = 43.65, p <.000, explaining 33% of the variance in autonomous choice. Gender had a main effect on adolescents’ autonomous choice in non-STEM fields such that overall, girls experienced more autonomy during the choice of a non-STEM major than boys (B = 0.84, SE = 0.34, p <.05). Adolescents’ increased ability to a choose non-STEM major autonomously was predicted by increased need-supporting parenting (B = 0.64, SE = 0.15, p <.001) and having an informative identity processing style (B = 0.21, SE = 0.04, p <.001). The indirect effect of informative identity processing style on autonomous choice was significant (B = 0.11, SE. =0.02, LLCI = 0.07, ULCI = 0.16), indicating its mediating role in the relationship between need-supporting parenting and adolescents’ experience of autonomous choice in non-STEM fields. As detailed below, the direct effect of parental autonomy support on adolescents’ experience of autonomous choice was significant for both genders. Therefore, informative identity processing style played a role of a partial mediator in this link.

The product term of the interaction was significant (B = − 0.18, SE = 0.09, p <.05), indicating that gender moderated the link between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice. Simple slope analyses of the interaction effect showed that the relationship between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice in non-STEM was significant for both boys (B = 0.46, SE = 0.07, p <.001) and girls (B = 0.28, SE = 0.06, p <.001).

Figure 2 displays the interaction plot for the association between need-supporting parenting and adolescents’ experience of autonomous choice for boys and girls in non-STEM fields. As seen in the figure, the relationship between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice in non-STEM fields was stronger for boys. In other words, although girls experienced increased levels of autonomy during the decision-making process, boys’ autonomous choice of a non-STEM major was more dependent on their parents’ ability to support their autonomy.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Interaction effect between perceived parental autonomy support and gender on Adolescents’ Autonomous Choice in non-STEM Fields (n = 395)

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4.1.2 Choosing a STEM major

Next, we examined the moderating role of gender and the mediating role of informative identity processing style in the relationship between parental need-support and students’ autonomous decision to major in STEM. We used the same analysis as described for the non-STEM fields. Results showed that the model was significant F(4, 155) = 26.66, p <.001, explaining 41% of the variance in autonomous choice in STEM fields. Gender had a main effect on adolescents’ autonomous choice such that overall, boys reported more autonomy when deciding on STEM than girls (B = -1.85, SE = 0.81, p <.05). Adolescents’ increased ability to choose STEM autonomously was positively predicted by informative processing styles (B = 0.14, SE = 0.05, p <.01). Surprisingly, need-supporting parenting did not have a main effect on adolescents’ autonomous choice in STEM (B = 0.08, SE = 0.24, p =.74). The indirect effect of informative identity processing style on autonomous choice in STEM was significant (B = 0.11, SE = 0.04, LLCI = 0.03, ULCI = 0.20), indicating its mediating role in the relationship between need-supporting parenting and adolescents’ experience of autonomous choice in STEM fields. Like in the non-STEM fields, the direct effect of parental autonomy support on adolescents’ experience of autonomous choice was significant for both genders. Therefore, informative identity processing style played a role of a partial mediator in this link. The product term of the interaction was significant (B = 0.42, SE = 0.19, p <.05), indicating that gender moderated the link between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice in STEM. Simple slope analyses of the interaction effect showed that the relationship between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice was significant for both boys (B = 0.49, SE = 0.09, p <.001) and girls (B = 0.91, SE = 0.18, p <.001).

As seen in Fig. 3, the relationship between need-supporting parenting and autonomous choice in STEM was stronger for girls. That is, while boys experienced increased autonomy during choosing STEM, girls’ ability to choose STEM autonomously depended more on their parents’ need-support. To further explore the interaction between gender and parental need-support, we calculated the normalized differences of choosing a STEM over non-STEM major (\( \varDelta \left(STEM, non-STEM\right), in \left[\%\right]\)) at different levels of need-supporting parenting (Fig. 4). As seen in the figure, the difference between boys’ and girls’ likelihood to choose STEM majors is the largest in the low levels of parental autonomy support. However, these gender differences are gradually reduced and finally disappear with the increase in parental need support.

Fig. 3
figure 3

interaction effect between perceived parental autonomy support and gender on Adolescents’ autonomous choice in stem fields (n = 176)

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Fig. 4
figure 4

The effects of autonomy supporting parenting on the autonomous choice in a STEM fields

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5 Discussion

The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents’ identity processing style in the association between perceived parental need support and adolescents’ level of autonomous motivation for choosing their high school major. We also examined whether these relationships differed for gender-stereotyped (i.e., when girls decide to major in non-STEM fields and boys decide to major in STEM fields) and non-stereotyped decisions (i.e., when girls decide to major in STEM fields and boys decide to major in non-STEM fields).

Our results showed that the informative processing identity style mediated the relationship between parental need-support and adolescents’ autonomous motivation for choosing a high school major (STEM and non-STEM). We also found that the relationship between parental need support and adolescents’ ability to make an autonomous choice of a high school major differed between gender-stereotyped and non-stereotyped decisions. Compared to girls, boys’ autonomous motivation for choosing a non-STEM major was more strongly related to their parents’ level of need-support. In contrast, girls’ autonomous motivation was more strongly related to their parents’ need-support when choosing STEM as a major than boys. These findings are discussed below.

5.1 The mediating role of identity processing style

The results showed that the informative processing identity style mediated the relationship between parental need-support and adolescents’ experience of autonomy when choosing their high school major (STEM or non-STEM). Consistent with previous studies (Luyckx et al., 2007; Smits et al., 2010), these findings suggest that parental need-support provides adolescents with the “energy” to engage in an open and flexible exploration of different lifestyles. In turn, this open and critical search of identity-related issues gives adolescents the strength or a sense of liberty to make a determined, authentic, and personally endorsed choice that often also differs from gender roles and expectations.

Within the context of career choice, Eryigit and Kerpelman (2011) found that informative college students were more likely to search for possible career alternatives that would be good for them, make tentative career choices, evaluate and elaborate their choices, and internalize the career path they thought was the best for them. When making an occupational choice, informative adolescents emphasized intrinsic values (e.g., feelings of self-fulfillment, intellectual stimulation, and autonomy). In contrast, normative adolescents emphasized extrinsic values (e.g., authority, prestige, wage), and diffuse/avoidant adolescents oscillated between the two value systems. Our results may indicate that an informative identity processing style may be even more crucial when students make decisions that do not align with social expectations, such as gender roles. Individuals with a high informative orientation under limited circumstances might use every opportunity to help them with identity work, or they might create opportunities by being proactive and alert to every piece of relevant information regarding their career. In a study of longitudinal associations between identity processes and identity content (e.g., pro-diversity), Erentaitė et al. (2019) suggested that higher reliance on informative identity processing may reflect an increased ability to tolerate the complexity and ambiguity related to the pursuit of social diversity. At the same time, higher openness to sociocultural diversity may promote more exposure to information about the experiences of diverse social groups, which in turn may facilitate the more intentional, critical, and self-reflective social cognition characterizing the informative identity style.

5.2 Gendered profiles of highschool major choice

Overall, our findings suggest that gender moderated the association between students’ need- support experiences and the development of an autonomous motivation when choosing a high school major. While the relationship between parents’ level of need support and students’ autonomous motivation for choosing a non-STEM major was stronger for boys than for girls, the relationship between parents’ level of need support and students’ autonomous motivation for choosing STEM as a major was stronger for girls than for boys. Moreover, analyzing the normalized differences of choosing a STEM over non-STEM major showed that girls’ underrepresentation in STEM fields decreases with higher levels of parental need support and is even reversed in high levels of need support.

Consistent with previous studies (Modrek et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2015), these findings suggest that parents’ need support is more crucial for students’ autonomous motivation when they decide or engage in activities that breach the bounds of “gender appropriate.” One possible explanation for the different role of parents in gender-stereotyped and non-stereotypes decision may be related to gender differences in boys’ and girls’ self-efficacy in STEM and non-STEM fields. Because girls feel more uncertain about their interest and competence in male-dominated domains such as STEM fields (Cech et al., 2011), they may need more active and clearer support from their parents when they decide to major in these fields. Boys, probably due to the cultural policing of masculinity (Banchefsky et al., 2019), may feel uncertain about their interests and competence in non-STEM fields, especially in the humanities and some social sciences disciplines (Cheryan & Plaut, 2010) and may need increased parental support to choose a non-STEM high school major. High autonomy support provided by parents may thus enhance students’ interests and value in the field and reduce their reluctance. Insufficient parental autonomy support, on the other hand, may exacerbate students’ reluctance and disinterest (Shen et al., 2015).

Alternatively, increased parental support in non gender- stereotyped decisions may be needed due to the role of self-expression of the gendered-selves in advanced industrial societies. In individualistic, liberal, and resourced societies, where education and career choices are framed as an expression of an authentic inner self, beliefs about gender differences (“gender essentialism”) more strongly influence career aspirations (Budge et al., 2023). Since understandings of those “inner selves” are highly gendered, self-expressive choice may manifest as “expression of gendered selves” (Charles & Bradley, 2009). A qualitative study by Yeshurun (2021) that examined Israeli girls’ high school major decisions showed that although all girls consulted their parents when making the decision, parents of girls who chose a combination of STEM and non-STEM majors (e.g., history and physics),

were highly involved in the decision-making process and actively encouraged their girls to major in STEM. In contrast, parents of girls who chose only non-STEM majors just encouraged them to follow their personal interests and preferences.

Altogether, the findings provide empirical evidence that the ways of approaching identity formation and acquisition of gender-related norms and values are intertwined in adolescence. In particular, adolescents who experience high levels of parental need-support will be more likely to seek out, analyze, discuss actively, and critically evaluate self-relevant information (i.e., use informative identity processing). In turn, the more adolescents reflectively and critically examine self-relevant information, the more they are likely to choose a high school major that reflects their own goals, values, and ambitions.

5.3 Limitations and directions for future studies

These findings have several limitations. The first is its exclusive reliance on self-reported data. This approach is affected by problems of shared method variance, such that the observed associations between adolescents’ perceived parental support, identity processing style, and their level of autonomy may become artificially inflated (Liu et al., 2016).

Given evidence for differential parents’ and teachers’ behavior toward boys and girls (Bassi et al., 2018; Endendijk et al., 2016), future studies should address the relative role of actual and perceived need support in predicting students’ autonomous motivation (e.g., by integrating self-reports with observation data). Second, the cross-sectional nature of the current study did not allow us to draw conclusions about the causal relationship between the variables. While an informative identity processing style may lead to a better ability to make an autonomous choice, this direction could also be reversed, such that making autonomous decisions about self-relevant issues and succeeding in a chosen path may enhance students’ motivation for future exploration. For example, a two-year longitudinal study of adolescents showed that school engagement positively predicted informative identity processing, whereas school burnout positively predicted reliance on normative and diffuse-avoidant identity styles (Erentaitė et al., 2019). Recent evidence also suggests that the effects of controlling parenting style might be dynamic and change over time. A longitudinal study that followed French-Canadian adolescents’ career development showed that the expected maladaptive nature of controlling parenting on adolescents’ autonomous decision-making was only evident one year after graduation but not during the last two years of secondary school (Ahn et al., 2022). Thus, future research should adopt longitudinal methodologies to examine the associations between parental need-support, identity style, and decision-making processes. Future investigation should also control for the potential effects of various academic variables, including academic performance, interests, and academic self efficacy, that may contribute to to gender differences in high school major preferences.

Another limitation concerns the relative homogeneity of the current sample in terms of ethnicity and SES. Research indicates that sociocultural factors such as gender, cultural norms, and SES may be related to the formation of an identity-processing style and the motivation to major in STEM (Lichtenberger & George-Jackson, 2013). Future studies should examine the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and social class in predicting adolescents’ career development.

Cultures and contexts also differ in the extent to which they encourage identity exploration. A study comparing identity work in American and Turkish youth suggested that traditional and authoritarian cultural orientations, economic and social structural difficulties, as well as the rigidity of the higher education system do not support an extensive amount of identity work in the career domain among college age students in Turkey compared to their American counterparts (Eryigit & Kerpleman, 2011). In the same vein, a study of Israeli adolescents showed that students with lower SES backgrounds were more likely to be interested and confident in STEM fields since these can lead to more rapid social mobility (Chachashvili-Bolotin et al., 2016). Ideal circumstances for identity work in the career domain require a wide range of available career possibilities available, the freedom to make choices, and enough time and activities to evaluate these career options. However, since these conditions are not equally distributed across cultures and contexts, future studies should address the role of sociocultural factors in adolescents’ career decision processes.

To enhance the comprehension of the relationship between identity styles and motivation, future research should investigate specific unexpected findings from the current study that were not extensively explored. Specifically, examining the positive correlation between adolescents’ autonomous choices in non-STEM fields and their normative identity processing style is recommended, alongside the negative correlation with a diffuse identity processing style. These findings present an unexpected contrast to prior research (e.g., Berzonsky & Kuk, 2005), signaling a potentially significant avenue for exploration. The further investigation can help us better understand how adolescents who align with societal and parental expectations still find unique and personal ways to assert their autonomy outside of more traditionally esteemed paths and challenge our understanding of autonomy as purely self-directed, suggesting it can also be expressed within the framework of implied norms.

5.4 Implications for theory and practice

Addressing adolescents’ decision-making process in a ‘real world’ context rather in experimental designs (Moller et al., 2006) can provide valuable insights into the personal, familial, and contextual variables associated with differences in motivation for decision-making. This study supports the view that gender and identity processing style play significant roles in the relationship between parental need-support and adolescents’ autonomous decisions. The results suggest that adolescents choose a high school major with specific motivational characteristics as a result of their social and cultural experiences. Therefore, gender differences should be identified, appreciated, and instructionally addressed by teachers, parents, and policymakers.

From a theoretical viewpoint, investigating adolescents’ profiles in choosing a major can contribute to the conceptualization of the ways in which people make career-related decisions. Specifically, it may help understand how family, personal, and contextual factors interact during important decisions and facilitate an ecological perspective on decision-making processes. From a practical viewpoint, identifying the gender- and domain-specific profiles of choosing a major may help develop interventions that support students’ autonomy during this meaningful process.

The large Pearson’s r effect sizes of perceived parental need support and informative identity processing style for adolescents’ autonomous motivation in both STEM non-STEM majors suggest that autonomy-supportive parenting may foster the development of flexible and exploratory identity processing style, that will eventually help students to make autonomous decisions about their future. In the context of the current study, it appears that an informative identity processing style is especially necessary when students make decisions that do not align with gender stereotypes. Thus, education and counselling interventions should emphasize the key role of parents and teachers in supporting adolescents basic psychological needs in times of important life decisions, as well as encouraging adolescents to openly and critically explore their career options. Moreover, the results of this study can help educators and counselors tailor support to students based on their identity processing style and help promote healthier decision-making and greater alignment between students’ choices and their true interests and values.