Examining Latinas’ STEM Career Decision-Making Process: A Psychosociocultural Approach

ABSTRACT

The current multi-institutional study took place within the context of highly selective California institutions of higher education. The author built on social-cognitive career theory and the psychosociocultural framework to test a holistic structural equation model for Latina career decision making in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The hypothesized model fit the data well. Fourteen statistically significant paths were observed, indicating that campus climate, academic involvement, and faculty support and encouragement played an important role in Latinas’ STEM career decision-making process. Latina students with higher socioeconomic status, faculty support, and academic involvement were more likely to have STEM career goals. Those who perceived their classroom climates as hostile and who had higher self-sacrifice values were less likely to pursue STEM career goals. Several implications for student affairs administrators, institutional policymakers, and counseling services are provided and offer important considerations when working with Latina undergraduates who wish to pursue STEM fields. Implications for research and theory are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Latina
• social-cognitive career theory
• STEM
• structural equation modeling
• undergraduate